The Naruto Sagas: Origin
by Valaryian
Summary: What if Naruto's Chakra was larger than Canon's. What if it was special? What if it this Chakra resulted him him walking upon a different path and, perhaps, a brighter one. Watch Naruto go from a weak and empty soul to a loved God among men. Eventual God-like, Unique Chakra, Harem, Fem Sasuke, young Anko, Close to Canon, eventual Lemons. Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
1. Chapter 1

**Little explanation on my plans. **

**1. I will be keeping as close to canon as I can with this, therefore no majot character changes if I can help it (Naruto excluded) and therefore Satsuki (Fem Sasuke) will still be an arrogant Uchiha.**

**2. The Harem is NOT up for discussion and I don't intend to post who is on it. It will be a mild surprise for you, though I believe you will guess. I will say there will be only 4.**

**3. I don't know how good my grammar is so don't hesitate to comment.**

**4. If anyone has an idea on what I could or should do with an idea I would like to hear it as it may enforce my own conclusions or create new ones for me. **

**5. Obviously no flamming. I appreciate good comments which are constructive.**

**6. I intend to make several branching sagas with this one being the base, i.e. why it's called origin. My first Plan is to do a Naruto Avenger Sekirei. I would also like to suggest other authors to do something similar, multi universe crossovers, as it is unique.**

Chapter 1: A lonely boy.

Naruto was sat alone in the orphanage grounds on one of the swings. His eyes, sad and pained, stared dispassionately at the orphanage that he lived in. He didn't know why, or what he did to deserve it but there was one thing he was sure of. The village hated him.

It was nothing obvious or dangerous like beatings or anything like that but more subtle, like they wanted to hurt him but were constricted in what they could do. Their displeasure of his existence was, thankfully, contained to: hateful glares, whispers of 'that' or 'it' or, on their more generous days, 'that boy'; as well as actions which include dumping his food or laundry(assuming they deigned to wash his clothes) at their earliest convenience, as if ridding themselves of something disgusting, or corralling the other children away from him, claiming he was dangerous or someone they shouldn't get involved with.

Nothing overt. But maybe more scarring. He was not a full grown man with years of experience and fortitude to support him. He was a kid. 4 years old this day who had never known the love of a parent or even the constant support of a friend.

All he felt was cold and empty as his second birthday within memory went by, ignored by all those around him, on the same day the glares intensified. He wanted to cry. But knew there was no point. No one would come to comfort him. No one would care or even glance in his direction. He was alone and unwant-

"Happy Birthday Naruto-kun." Said an aged voice.

Naruto's head swivelled round at an almost dangerous speeds towards the direction of the voice. What greeted his sore eyes was an old man wearing a white and red robe with a similarly coloured hat with some sort of Kanji on it (He has yet to learn how to read).

In said old man's hands was a small package wrapped in colourful paper with a little ribbon wrapped around it and tied into a bow. But what caught his attention the most was the smile which lay upon the wrinkled face and the kind and caring eyes which look upon him with no strain of repressed emotion or shadow of a hidden agenda. It was, for the eyes of the love deprived child, the most beautiful thing the young child had ever seen.

The old man's smile widened as he saw that the young boy was looking at him before slowly, but deliberately, walked up to birthday boy before kneeling down to his level in front of the swing. Naruto could only stare at the elderly person with unconcealed shock as he came close to him and kneeled in front of him.

The man's face continued to smile, but his eyes were now slightly sad at seeing the boy so shocked to have someone interact with him. Not missing a beat the old man presented the package to the child before him.

"Sorry I couldn't come to your previous birthdays Naruto-kun, I was busy with work and didn't have enough time to visit you." The old man said in an apologetic tone, "But I'm here now so: Happy Birthday!" He said in a more jovial manner. Naruto was still dumbstruck by this old Grampa figure.

He truly had no idea what to say or do in this situation. He had never experience a Birthday, his own or anyone else's; he had not even experienced such friendly interaction with another human being before. As such he could do little but look from the old man's face to the present and back again. The old man, seeing his confusion and feeling a sharper pang of guilt, prompted the boy by jerking the present ever so slightly towards him.

Snapping out of his daze slightly he reached out towards the gift gently grabbing hold of it, as if it would disappear if he were to hold it too tightly. Once he was assured the child had a firm enough grip on the gift not to drop it the old man let go of the present and retracted his hand. This however did not mean that Naruto had accepted the present yet.

He continued to hold the present in the exact same spot that he received it with a look of confusion and even a slight fear which showed the terror he felt that this was all a cruel prank to get him to lower his guard that the old man might hurt him. It had happened before with several of the older kids in the orphanage. He looked steadily at the old man. Watching for any cue, any indication of what to do or what his intentions were in doing this.

The gramps had realised that the boy might be like this and was already waiting for him to ask. Seeing the gaze the old man smile grew bigger and warmer before he gave a nod in affirmation. Seeing the nod Naruto slowly brought the gift towards his chest, his eyes never leaving the colourful package to even blink, as if it would be gone when he opened his eyes again.

When its path finally reached its end Naruto stared at his first present ever with a mix of shock and trepidation. It was only then, at that moment that he actually realised what was happening to him. What the old man had given to him and what it all meant for young Naruto. He also realised that this present, this colourfully wrapped object with a little ribbon wrapped around it and tied into a bow, was not in the least bit important.

In a flash Naruto jumped off of the swing in a burst of instinctual need for physical contact with the sole person who ever so much as looked upon him with kindness. Before the old man could comprehend what was happening he felt the air forced out of him as the small child barrelled into his stomach and wrapped his small, skinny arms as far and as tightly as he could and wept tears of pure unadulterated_ joy_.

Now the one in shock the man could not help but let out a small tear at the child's reaction to a birthday present he had yet to even open. His grandfatherly instinct kicking in Konoha's grandfather figure wrapped his arms around the small child who was clinging to him and crying into his robes without shame or care.

The Hokage knew he was needed back at the office fairly soon however he resolved to make up for lost time later. He owed Minato and Kushina, not to mention this poor child, at least that much. It was an hour or two before the child in his arms cried himself to sleep, during which he had on several occasions thanked him and increased the strength of his hugs to an almost unbearable and heartbreaking level. By the end of it the Hiruzen felt like trash.

Konoha had failed their Yondaime.

"Tenzo" Hiruzen called.

"Hai" A man wearing an animal mask of some sort replied. His normally crisp reply followed by a 'Hokage-sama' was forgotten in the wake of that child's pain. The Sandaime hardly blamed him.

"You are hereby tasked with watching over Naruto for the Forseeable future as a long running mission. I want to know everything that happens to him and everything that he does. You may still be assigned regular missions and be called away on other duties within the village however for any other time while on duty you are to be watching over him." The Professor ordered, now standing while cradling the sleeping Naruto.

With more enthusiasm, unusual for a now literal babysitting duty, the young ANBU member acknowledged the order with a once again crisp and formal "Hai, Hokage-sama" before once again disappearing.

Hiruzen sighed in disgust at both himself and the villagers for making him so void of love and care and for not noticing it and allowing it to happen. As well as what he, as Hokage, had to do now. Taking the child to his room in the orphanage he place Naruto into his bead under the sheets before placing the package and a note before hiding it under a small Genjutsu which Only Naruto would be able to see though. With a heavy heart and a newly lit fire Hiruzen Sarutobi left Naruto under the watchful eye of Tenzo.

... The Following Morning...

Naruto woke to the morning sun and the chirping of Birds. He groaned and struggled to avoid weeping as he realised that all that he saw, the kind eyes, the warm smile, the genuine present on his birthday was nothing but a dream. He felt more empty than ever that the only way to feel joy was to dream it. After several minutes of lying in his bed forcing composure upon himself he finally gained the force of will to get out of bed. Then he saw it.

On his night stand, next to his lamp, was a small package wrapped in colourful paper with a little ribbon around it and tied into a bow. In a moment of hope and scepticism Naruto tentivly reached out to touch the object of possibly hallucinogenic origin. He touched it. He could feel it. IT WAS REAL!

He instantly grabbed it and brought it close, temporarily ignoring the note he grabbed with it, and hugged it tightly while making happy squeals. Feeling the rush of emotion abate he debated whether to open it or preserve it forever in dedication of what happened yesterday. That was when the note fell on his lap. He looked at it for several seconds not understanding a single word that was written.

Most children his age were already able to read to some extent however none of the staff in the orphanage opted to teach him how to read and write and when he had noticed others learning and had asked they merely sneered at him before going back to whatever they were doing.

Tenzo, thankfully noticed his confused and eventually anguished expressions and realized the potential problem. Both he and the Hokage should have realised it much sooner. Maybe they thought they would at least teach him how to read, as was their duty, but apparently not. Reading between the lines of his orders Tenzo opted to make himself known and appeared just outside his window before making his presence known by knocking on the frame.

To say Naruto was startled was an understatement. In fact it may also have been the wrong word. He was startled by the noise, terrified by the implication and horrified to see someone was looking at him. This was evident from how he jumped at the sound before frantically hiding the present and note under his pillow and then went to staring at the ANBU who he did not see until it was too late.

Tenzo felt extremely uncomfortable by the boy's reaction to him and his attempt to hide the present from him, or more accurately from those in the orphanage. His attempt to not startle the child had ended badly but thankfully he fully believed he could fix this. Raising his hands in a peaceful gesture, which actually did little to ease the child's fear, Tenzo slowly and carefully entered the room making sure to watch the child closely for his limit.

Getting to within two metres of the young Jinchuriki the ANBU decided to not push his luck and came to a standstill. Summoning every ounce of bedside manner and acting skill he had the newly appointed psuedo-guardian initiated the conversation.

"My name is Tenzo. I am a member of the Hokage's ANBU." He began. Seeing the Blonde had at least some understanding of how the village worked he forged on. "The Hokage, the man you met yesterday,-" the boy's eyes widened "-left the note under the assumption you would have been taught how to read it."

While he didn't know how much the note said or if the Hokage had informed the child of his status as Hokage or just assumed he knew he felt the child would figure it out eventually and it was better to tell him now.

"If you wish I would read the letter for you so that you may hear what he has to say." The boy looked torn at that. His eyes revealed everything and stated quite clearly he wanted more than anything to read the note. But he was also afraid that he might take it and destroy it.

Eventually the urge to know what the stranger, who he now knew was the leader if this village, had written to him and the fact he was willing to give the benefit of the doubt to this unknown ANBU won out and he hesitantly reached under his pillow to pull the note out, though he was careful to keep the present hidden.

Tenzo patiently waited for the child to present the note to him and when he finally received it he handled it with the same care the child showed, using the tips of his fingers to hold it.

"It says:" he starts "Dear Naruto, I am sorry I am unable to stay until you wake up however my position requires that I do a lot of paperwork and meetings. I hope you enjoy your present however and will be looking forward to seeing you again as soon as I have a moment free." Tenzo Paused for a moment before finishing. "P.S. Don't keep the wrapped gift. Open it."

Tenzo raised an eyebrow in confusion until he saw the sheepish look Naruto was giving which told him all he needed to know. Handing back the note to the boy, who seemed more at ease now, he was about to leave when he noticed the boy had taken out his present and begun unwrapping it, being extra careful with the paper so as not to tear any of it. Deciding to stay and add a more detailed reaction to the report he had the immense pleasure and joy to see something only a select few people would see for years to come.

Upon opening the present saw his first gift. It was a wallet which looked like a small deflated toad. It was actually quite cute in his opinion and he could already imagine how cute it would be after he filled it up, if he filled it up. His face hadn't had one since before he could remember but thankfully muscle instinct prevailed and in an instant a beautiful, radiant smile blossomed on his face as he beamed in sheer happiness and excitement at what could, and always would, be described as the second best present of his life.

Tenzo was almost in a daze at the stark change in his appearance. Gone was the black of night and now the sun reigned across the sky sending life and spreading joy to all who could see it (assuming you are a morning person. (Sorry for ruining the moment :/ )).

How the child could smile like that after everything he had suffered was a mystery but there was one thing Tenzo knew and that was that he would treasure this moment, and that smile till his dying days. He stayed in the room long enough for the child's smile to die down a bit from solar to merely bright before he coughed and announced his intention to leave. Before he could however a small weight suddenly clung to his leg. When he looked down he saw the blonde hugging his leg with a still bright smile.

"Thank you Tenzo-san! You're awesome!" The boy said in a cheery voice. It was also the first time he had heard the boy talk, he realised, and he must say it was a brilliant introduction to a voice.

"You're welcome Naruto" Tenzo replied with a smile. He managed to realise that he still had a mask on so also nodded in acknowledgement of his words before patting the boy on the head and Shunshinning out of room and heading to the Hokage's office to report on the child's wake up, something he knew the Hokage would want to know.

Naruto stood in his room in a small daze as his hand drifted to his recetly patted head. He didn't like the idea of someone 'patting' you on the head as it reminded him of a pet however he felt slightly happy at the intended affectionate act.

... Hokage Office...

Sarutobi had spent the last three minutes just staring at his Rival. No matter what he did the bastard would always show up, regardless of him feelings or previous actions. Every time his Rival appeared he always was left thinking, and in this case saying, the same thing.

"Fucking paperwork." The old man growled. He had tried time and again to subjugate his long time Rival but the bastard was slippery and cunning which meant it was never truly gone and was merely waiting to strike whenever you were tired and emotionally weary (NOTE: 'Weary' means tired. Not cautious which is 'wary').

Hiruzen was for the umpteenth time wondering if using a Katon Jutsu would be an effective method of removing this thorn in his side for AT LEAST a day. But again for the umpteenth time he realised that not only would more eventually come as soon as it finished burning but the next batch after that would be a replacement of all the papers he had just burnt, as well as the swearing and glares from the people who had had to file reports, etc, twice. Being Hokage SUCKED. Who would want to be Hokage? You would have to be a complete idiot with a terrible fashion sense, like a kid who wears a kill-me-orange jumpsuit or something, to actually WANT to be a Kage.

As Sarutobi lamented his choices in life, his increasingly depressed features severely worrying and freaking out his hidden ANBU, he noticed someone shunsining into his office. Jerking his head up and smiling a half real smile, real because he now had an excuse for postponing paperwork, he was met with the kneeling form of one Tenzo. The Sandaime's face became very real now as he now looked forward to hearing about Naruto.

"Reporting Hokage-sama." Declared Tenzo.

"Ah, Tenzo, how was Naruto-kuns morning?" Sarutobi asked. He did not expect his ANBU agent to report so soon, seeing as it had only been a couple hours since the young Jinchuriki would have awoken, but he was grateful none the less as it had been a point of worry for the old Hokage ever since he left.

"After watching Naruto for several hours after sundown I went to barracks to rest for six hours before returning to my post. Naruto woke up two hours later, approximatly an hour ago. From his reaction to the present on his night stand I think he believed, until that point, the previous night was a dream." The effectively turned Hiruzen's smile upside down. However he remained silent as the Tenzo continued his report.

"After he grabbed the present he noticed the note you left. When he tried to read it his face became confused and forlorn. I quickly realised that he had yet to learn how to read." Hiruzens eyes widened at that before he scowled.

While he did not expect Naruto to be able to read Medical scrolls the note was not that complicated and Naruto should have been able to read it (I am assuming Shinobi develop faster). Assuming he had actually been properly taught. He again remained silent as the ANBU continued, though he was also trying to avoid glaring at the messenger of this bad news.

"At this point, seeing as you did not tell me to be hidden from him, I opted to reveal myself so as to offer my assistance." Hiruzen smiled at his ANBU, happy that he had read between the lines and acted in a way that fulfilled the spirit of his task to the fullest.

"At which point he frantically tried to hide the gift and showed a terrified expression when he noticed I had already seen everything." Hiruzen was now looking shocked. His mouth was hung open and he seemed to be in a bit of a daze. None the less Tenzo chose to continue as if nothing happened.

"When I entered the room he became very defensive of the gift as he continued to keep himself between the package and I, despite the fact there was nothing he could have done to stop me." Sarutobi was both heartbroken and happy about this. Happy because Naruto was willing to protect his gift, heartbroken because the child felt he had to.

"After calming him down and informing him who I was and why I was there he reluctantly hand the note over to me to read. By the way it seems you were correct that he was going to keep the wrapped present as a memento Hokage-sama." The Sandaime sighed sadly at that, feeling increasingly exasperated and angry with the Village and Orphanage as this whole fiasco went on.

"When he opened the present his... features lit up. He... smiled what could only be called a true genuine smile and his eyes widened and... sparkled with Joy." The Sandaime noted the momentary trance his ANBU was in as he recounted the child's reaction to a mere Gama wallet. If his smile could affect his ANBU, this one in particular, this much then it must have been a sight to behold.

"Afterward I believed it best to report to you what had transpired and was about to leave when Naruto Uzumaki thanked me for reading the note for him. After I assured him it was nothing I left and came straight here." The ANBU finished.

Hiruzen didn't really know what to say after all that. He was happy that Naruto found his gift, and hopefully by extension him, precious and that he could still smile like that and be happy, regardless of why he was so, as it meant that he had not lost to hate.

However the fact remained was possibly near a breaking point when he found him. He should have known better. No he DID know better. But the turmoil and desperation after the Kyuubi attack due to damages and a weakening of Konohagakure's military force had made the Sandaimes job difficult and stressful, in every sense of the word. If he were young, hell is he were even 10 years younger, it would have been bearable however for the first year he literally slept in the office and for the second he usually went to bad at his house full dressed because he was too tired to do otherwise.

His age really made even the task of sitting in his chair uncomfortable and tiring. It was a flimsy excuse to say the least however he was not actually tasked with caring for him. It was not really his responsibility! It was Jiriya's and - GAH! Shut up you should have made Jiriya stay around longer to look after him or atleast assigned an ANBU to keep tabs on the child.

Sarutobi sighed again. If one where to look, and Tenzo did, the Sandaime seemed to age a decade as he put his face in his hands to calm himself down and think. This was not how things should have gone. It was not really his fault as the villagers were entrusted with treating the Yondaime's son, not that they knew that bit, well as the Fourth's dying request and they had spat on it and, in every way, him because of their own selfish hate and fear. Taking deep breathes now Sarutobi managed to compose himself sufficiently to face his ANBU.

"Tenzo. Upon returning you are to speak with the Orphanage and are to inform them that they are to correct their mistakes with Naruto post haste and anything they have neglected to give or teach him is to be fixed. Aside from that your mission still stands Tenzo. I expect weekly updates at least." He commanded while presenting a scroll of paper with official order.

"Tell me at once if you become tired of the task and I will assign someone else." He did not want the ANBU neglecting his watch over the boy because he got bored. Loyal and dedicated or not babysitting was the least favourite aspect of any Ninja.

"Hai Hokage-sama." The ANBU stated before dissapearing in the standard leaf shunshin.

The Sandaime gave a tired sigh before looking back towards his paperwork pile before giving an even more tired and considerable exasperated sigh as a tears welled up in his eyes. Then a fresh determination filled him as he straightened his back and prepared himself to once again face his worse enemy.

'_I won't be beaten by you. I won't succumb to despair. I will win this battle between us my old Arch Nemesis, even if it kills me!_' The Professor declared in his mind as he once again faced the greatest enemy in human history.

...Tenzo...

Tenzo moved rapidly through Konoha, ignoring the morning bustle as people went about their business. Despite being a babysitting mission he was quite pleased about it. While most ANBU wouldn't be happy about being sent to watch over a kid inside Konoha, especially one that contained the Kyuubi, his glimpse into the life and state of the four year old was disconcerting and painful.

It also reminded his, mostly, of his what had been done to him by Orochimaru, without the experimentations and deaths. Atleast he had come out of the darkness and been given a chance to serve Konoha, which had welcomed him. The boy however was without respite or hope as the entire village looked at him with hateful eyes. Tenzo could only hope that the Sandaime and/or himself could change things for him if possible.

There was hope as he had acted positively towards both the Hokage and himself. He couldn't help but smile at the sudden turnaround from Naruto after he had opened that present and hoped the Sandaime would be able to see it as well.

He finally reached the orphanage only to see Jinchuriki surounded by several boys in what was obviously a bullying session while the carers stood by and pretended not to notice. This lit a fury in the ANBU and was about to intervene, and break a few of those so called caretaker's bones, when he saw an extraordinary sight.

...Naruto...

After the ANBU, as he apparently was called(He knew what the Hokage was but didn't know about the ANBU), left Naruto was on cloud nine. He was sad that he was left alone again but that he had not one but two people that noticed him in less than two days sent the Blonde into a happy, jumping, smiling mess for several minutes.

After he had calmed down somewhat he realised he would be late for breakfast. And he was. By one minute. This however was all it took for the faculty to deny him breakfast for the day. It was not an uncommon occurrence for him to miss a meal because of a minor infraction. But he didn't mind so much today. Because it would take a lot more than a missed meal to dampen his mood. Something a number of people in the orphanage noticed.

He smiled most of the time regardless of how he was feeling however now it was a bit brighter and more genuine than before. This was enough to get him in trouble with five of the other boys. After breakfast they went up to him and to question him about what he was all happy about.

"What's up with you bug? You're acting awfully happy today." asked the bigger of them, the leader of their little band of bullies which terrorised the younger children.

"Yeah. A disgusting bug like you doesn't deserve to feel happy, let alone act it." taunted one of the other kids.

"What would fat ugly slugs like you know?" Naruto retorted. It was a common song and dance. They would mock him, he would take offence and then they would proceed to beat him to a pulp under the watchful eye of the carers.

"Woah this bug is getting a bit uppity ain't it? I think we need to teach this bug its place." The leader said dangerously. Two of the other boys grabbed Naruto before he could do anything, preventing his arms from doing anything.

This however did not stop his feet which he used to kick the other kids. That was promptly stopped as the kids holding him continued to punch him in the sides giving the other three a chance to move in and start punching his body and face with abandon.

Normally Naruto would have been force to just take it but he refused to now. He was not alone anymore. There were people who cared about him and he was NOT going to allow himself to be a mere victim anymore!

He would prove himself to them and to everyone that he was worth something and then they would respect him! With this Oath in mind he begins to kick bite and claw at the other boys. Using every bit of strength and ounce of energy to scratch, bruise and send them flyin- Nani?

Naruto Looked in shock as the boy he had just kicked was sent flying a dozen feet before he smashed into the orphanage wall with a loud and sickening crack. The boys around him were in greater shock and were now a little afraid.

Naruto, being on the giving end and being in the compromising situation reacted quickly and proceeded to kick the other two boys in a similar fashion, although the effect was less prominent for some reason, before turning his attention to the other two boys, head putting one and then using his now free hand to punch the other. All the while he had been getting less and less dramatic effects from his attacks until he was the last one standing.

He could not help but look at the scene in awe as the other boys groaned, cried or remained worryingly unconscious, depending upon when in the order of events they were hit. It was then that the adults finally intervened. By blaming and shouting at Naruto.

"WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE YOU BRAT!" One caretaker yelled. Naruto knew there was no point to complaining so he settled for a glare. Which the adults ignored in favour of shouting, caring for the defeated bullies and glaring at him.

"LOOK WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO THESE BOYS YOU MONSTER! GET OUT OF THIS ORPHANGE RIGHT NOW OR I WILL-"

"do what?"

The Caretaker stopped in her screeching as a sudden cold fell upon her and the others. The feeling and images of dying over and over again filled her mind as she turned around to face a visibly shaking in, what everyone could tell, was anger as a dark aura surrounded his visage. All the carers gulped audibly as they were now faced with a very angry ANBU agent who they had little doubt had seen the whole thing.

"I... We... He att-" She began in a shaky voice which ended abruptly when she tried to accuse Naruto of attacking the bullies as the killing intent increased and she, more so than the others, began to struggle to breath.

"I saw the whole thing. He defended himself from bullies which you could, and should, have done for him. He was well within his right to do so and even if what you said is true you do NOT have the authority to throw a child out of the Orphanage, even with the Hokage's approval." Tenzo countered.

It was true. It was one of the central laws that unless he had a habitable, as dictated by the Konoha housing standards laws, secondary form of residence to go to; he had to remain, under any circumstances, in the orphanage until he was sixteen, or a Ninja, and anyone under sixteen and not a ninja went to the orphanage. Not even the Hokage was allowed to simply cast a child out.

Now they were looking as if their hands had been caught in the cookie jar, except they looked a lot less sheepish and a lot more terrified. This was near on physical child abuse, which could land them in jail, and considering how the ANBU was acting they would have to be extremely lucky to get away with being fired and black listed.

They were saved, at least from the KI, by the exuberant voice of the demon container.

"Tenzo onii-chan!" cried the oddly happy and unaffected boy who proceeded to run up to and glomp the ANBU. The carers sighed in relief as the ANBU Tenzo stopped releasing killing intent in favour of keeping the boy from slipping and then picking him up.

"Did you see that? Did you see? I made a decision to fight back with all I had then POW they were sent flying! Did I do good? Did it look cool? Does this make me a badass? What do you think? Onii-chan answer me!"

The ANBU didn't know what to think. One minute he was picking up the child that had glomped him the next he was being barraged by endless and sometimes repetitive questions. Choosing to answer only three from the still increasing number of questions Tenzo made to interrupt.

"I did and you looked very cool, I'm proud of you." And he was. To see him take a stand like that and then be all cheerful despite being on the receiving end of a beating which had left his face swollen and bleeding was something which made him very happy.

But he was also feeling wary and confused. What the boy had just done was weird as he seemed to use Chakra to fight them. This was weird for a four year old as they usually are unable to use chakra at this point and if they can it is rarely enough to do anything with it.

But Naruto's chakra was not only used to enhance his muscles but it, for a mere second, manifested around into a visible form! For a second he though the kyuubi was getting loose but it when then he noticed the second weird and shocking thing. The chakra was _green_.

Not Blue or Red but GREEN! As in medical Jutsu green. Tenzo had absolutely no clue what was going on. What had happened and how any of this was possible. One thing he did know was that he was not going to be having a normal life after this. Not that such a life could be considered normal anyway.

Once again Tenzo looked at the unjustly relieved carers before releasing his KI and Aura again which caused them to snap back their attention to him and the now smiling and bouncing blonde child.

"The Hokage shall hear of this." Tenzo stated ominously before disappearing in a shunshin, leaving the carers sweating and terrified.

The ANBU stopped at the hospitable on the way to the Hokage's office in order to inform the medics that there is was injured at the orphanage which required immediate medical attention. He would have normally transported the injured children himself but after what they tried and what the carers tried he didn't want to leave Naruto behind with his supposed caretakers to save trash.

Naruto was in a state of excited awe when the ANBU Shunshinned from place to place to the point his movements, i.e. bouncing upon Tenzo's arm, caused the ANBU to have a very sore arm by the time he reached the Hokage's office for the second time that morning.

When the duo arrived in the Hokage's office they were geeted by the sight of Hiruzen sribbling madly through the a paper before moving onto the next. Anime flames were flaring wildly in his eyes. It was kinda comical. Though what happened next made Naruto giggle.

"Hokage-sama." Said Tenzo. The Hokage was in the process of placing the recently finished piece of paper on the 'finished pile' when he heard his ANBU. Suddenly dividing his attention he ended up putting more force into placing the paper on the pile. Effectively toppling it.

There was silence as the paper fell to the floor, spreading everywhere and falling COMPLETELY out of order. The look of shock on the Hokage's face as it fell and the horror afterward was hilarious, and if they were not ANBU more would have been joining Naruto in his giggle fit.

After the Hokage recovered from the latest counter attack by his nemesis he ordered the hidden ANBU to pick up and order the paper, which they obeyed with smiled concealed under their masks.

"Naruto-kun. I must admit I was expecting to see you at a much later date." Said the old man with a confused smile on his face.

"JIJI!" shouted the little blonde boy as he jumped out of Tenzo's arms and proceeded to run around the tidy side of the desk and hug his new grandfather figure. The ANBU gave a reproachful, as much as they could with a mask on, look but immediately accepted it when the Hokage admitted he didn't mind. Placing the boy on his lap Hiruzen then turned his attention to his ANBU who had been standing expectantly as the Hokage attended to Naruto.

"What happened?" the Hokage asked in a concerned tone. Tenzo recounted what he had seen when he arrived, namely the beating and lack of care by the carers, followed by the turn around and the method by which he did it.

Needless to say Hiruzen was also surprised by his abilities. A mere Shinobi being able to create an aura of Chakra and that it was not the traditional blue was extraordinary.

'_This could be a Kekkai Genkai, though I know for a fact neither of his parents had this ability_.'

Sarutobi had no clue what to think about it let alone how Naruto had such Chakra. That however didn't matter as much as what had to be done about it.

"Tenzo. I assume you have no problem babysitting Naruto." Naruto scowled a little at that while Tenzo looked a little confused at the statement, assuming you had the Byakugan.

"Hai. I have no issues with this assignment." stated the ANBU, who kept his feelings out of his voice.

"Very well. As someone who has had to teach himself how to use his Kekkai Genkai you are now assigned to train Naruto-kun to control his powers and to become a Shinobi as well as rectify the mistakes his former carers have committed." Commanded the Hokage in a stately voice.

"He will be assigned an apartment near the centre of the village and it will be your task to feed and clothe his from the stipend he will be given; as well as guide him to and from training field number 32 which you will be assigned until stated otherwise. If you are assigned a mission or are given personal time you must ensure Naruto is taken care of until you next see him." Taking a breath the Hokage finished,

"While you are caring for him you may take off your mask and go under the codename Yamato. Do so now." Surprised but obedient the newly codenamed Yamato removed his mask to reveal a man with short brown hair and black, almond-shaped eyes.

"Hai Hokage-sama." Both men turned the oddly silent four year old who now had a dazed expression on his face and he slowly and thoroughly computer what his Jiji just said.

"Do you mean it Jiji? Tenzo onii-chan is going to teach and look after me?" Naruto asked hopefully. Hiruzen raised an eyebrow at the 'onii-chan' bit, but smiled and nodded in confirmation and was rewarded with that genuine smile his ANBU had told him about. He had to say his words did not do it justice.

"THANK YOU JIJI !" shouted the young child on his lap who once again gave the Hokage a tight hug which the old man returned with a chuckle.

"Tenzo onii-chan when do we start? What will you teach me? Will-" seeing where this was going Yamato interrupted quickly before the barrage became too severe.

"We start next week once you are settled and set up and I will tell you what we will learn when we start. Ah and you will call me Yamato-sensei from now on." clarified Yamato.

"Hai Yamato onii-chan" Naruto exclaimed cheerfully. This caused Hiruzen to chuckle as Yamato sweat dropped before giving in to the eccentric and energetic child. Turning towards the amused visage of the Hokage the now part time ANBU began to clarify as to where exactly he would be living and how much authority he would have over the boy's life. After several minutes he left with Naruto, feeling safe and daunted in the knowledge that Naruto was housed and his entire future was in his hands.

...one week later...

The last week had been the best in Naruto's life so far. Meeting his surrogate grandfather, meeting his onii-chan and finally being taken out of the orphanage and cared for by his new mentor and guardian, Yamato onii-chan. It was heartening to have someone show an interest in you. Few children realised how lucky they were to have a parental figure fuss over their diet and state of dress or cleanliness. He didn't even mind when Yamato told him off for doing something wrong as he could feel that he was doing it because he cared and wanted to help him improve and stay healthy.

Over the last week Yamato had been ensuring his Apartment was in order and ensuring meals were prepared and eaten. Naruto was still too young to cook and clean up after himself so Yamato had to do it for him until he was big enough to do it himself. Clothe shopping was a trying event for both of them as most of the shop owners would glare at Naruto and try to charge extra for his clothes.

That was always stopped abruptly when Yamato used his ghoul-eyes jutsu to corral the shop owners into giving them a discount. Yamato found the whole thing aggravating however the fact it was easily resolved made things easy to bear in comparison to what Naruto was going through. But it was still trying for him. How so? Because of Naruto's obsession with orange.

Every shop they went to he immediately would pick out the only orange items of clothing in the entire store, and considering they were all in the back of the store and kept out of sight was a true testament to how obsessed he was with the colour.

It was an uphill battle for Yamato and it often reached the point where Naruto's obsession and stubbornness rivalled his fear of Yamato's ghoul-eyes. In the end Yamato had to compromise by allowing him to possess orange tops and jumpers but only allowed blue and black trousers and sandals. It was delicate but it tempered Naruto's love of the colour enough for Yamato to put the fear of god into him and force acceptance.

He was not going to spend the next eight years or so looking at a boy who was always dressed from head to toe in kill-me-orange. He's rather die.

Thankfully for Naruto the children he fought were not critically injured, which was odd considering the force he hit them with should have left some of them on death's door. Or in his house. The doctors didn't know how they were still fine as the damage would normally have been significant however it seemed as if the children were already partially healed when they found them.

Hiruzen and Yamato both agreed that it had something to do with the hue of his Chakra. Naruto did not feel worried about the whole thing as he did not comprehend he had hit them all that hard, which Yamato believed would be best kept under wraps for now.

Anyway, now was the day Yamato would teach Naruto how to be a Ninja and how to use cool Jutsus!

Yamato had taken him to the assigned Training Ground at seven in the morning. He would have taken him there at six however Yamoto had quickly learnt that Naruto was NOT a morning person, which he had learnt the hard way when he tried to wake him up at five and had his hand bitten by an angry and drowsy Naruto. Also, despite his surprising levels of stamina, he was still a four year old boy who needed plenty of rest in order to grow.

Once they were there and Naruto was paying close attention Yamato began.

"Alright Naruto this will be you're lessons for the following month. Whether it will be the same for the following month will depend on how well you complete the tasks given." He waited for Naruto to give a nod of understanding, indicating that he understood and was still paying rapt attention.

"We will begin in the morning with two hours of physical exercise to burn excess energy. Followed instructions in how to mold one's chakra by use of Hand seals and later in the month we will work on Chakra control." He paused a moment to again gain confirmation that Naruto was paying attention, which he was, before he continued.

"We will continue to do so for three hours until you can do them on instinct." Naruto's enthusiasm dropped slightly however you would have to know him rather well to tell. "We will have lunch and then the afternoons will be dedicated to reading and writing." Yamato finished. Any enthusiasm lost at the lack of cool Jutsus was regained tenfold when he heard about being taught to read and write.

It had been a point of embarrassment for him that he had not been able to read, whether it was his fault or not, as the other kids would pick on him because of it and because it had caused trouble for Yamato onii-chan throughout the week, as well as almost depriving him of the chance to know what his Jiji's note said (Note he is illiterate and he doesn't know how boring books can be at this point but has already been taught the importance of being able to read).

"Let's go Yamato onii-chan!" With unnatural exuberance at the prospect of a hard day's work.

Yamato considered trying to get Naruto to call him sensei before he remembered how stubborn he can be and decided not to waste the day trying.

"Alright Naruto-kun. Let's start with half an hour jog around the training ground."


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm back! Two in a month, not bad. Don't expect this to be a common occurrence though. I have NO intention of forcing myself to do anymore than 1 a month. If I happen to get two or more that's great but this is a light hobby at the moment.**

**I want to say I do not have a Beta not am I particularly good at grammar (I spelt Grammar wrong :S) so if I make a mistake please point it out for me. Also shout-out to 'Berserkian fury' for pointing out the 'Wall of text'. I didn't think it was that bad or that important so thanks for that.**

**As for Coduss: the following chapter will describe what the Green Chakra is.**

**Talking about bloodlines I will be giving Naruto a Kekkai Genkai. Sort of. It starts with my curiosity about bloodlines: How were that created? Mutation? Then why did the Mokuton not get passed on? Inherited them? From where? If they were from the Rikudo Sennin, which I doubt, then why would they not be in the Senju and Uchiha clans? (I also doubt he could or would have created sub elements and put them in random people.)**

**My answer to this is simple. Someone put two and two together to create OVER 9000. Blood lines are MADE, then the forces (Will or massive Chakra) used to create it carve it into the DNA. That's my theory. Now what does this Naruto have plenty of? So he will, later, create a bloodline.**

**Naruto will be making a bloodline from any of the five elements so what I want to know from you is what kind of sub-element you want or think suit him. I want a reason why you like it and why it suits Naruto's personality etc. It will help a lot because I have no clue.**

**I also want to warn you that I have basically made an overview of the next two years till he goes to the Academy. There will be some returns to the time line though so don't skip, just brace.**

**Thank you all for reading and reviewing I hope to hear from you and your thoughts and your idea. You're input IS appreciated and I will be looking forward to it so don't be shy.**

**30/01/14 Updating! So I was told there were some errors. I was actually sure there was some before hand but still thanks to Fenerath, who is author of my much beloved "Fade to Blacklight", who I asked to check my work I have been able to pinpoint some (Hopefully most) of them and will be working to fix them. Thank you for overlooking these errors so far, if you even noticed them.**

Chapter 2: Training.

...Two Years later...

It had been two years since Naruto was placed under the care of codenamed ANBU 'Yamato' and things couldn't have been better, not including having parents, being liked by the village, having friends his age or a normal childhood.

Yamato, while being strict and demanding, was fair and dedicated to Naruto's well being. Every demand he made, every request he gave and every criticism he composed was tailored for the purpose to focus and advance Naruto's training. It was painful at times but it felt more like a good pain. Like you had pulled your muscles while training. It hurts a bit but you know you will be stronger for it.

The first month was both below and above Yamato's hope and expectation. In terms of physical activity Naruto excelled. On top of having endless stamina to throw around carelessly his shockingly advanced healing/regeneration meant that any soreness, regardless of how serious, was usually completely healed within half a day which meant he could do it all over again without issue the next day.

His academic learning was also going well. He had caught up in his reading skill to most kids of his age group in that month and had also almost caught up in his writing skills. It was quite pleasing for both Naruto and Yamato, as he knew Naruto had worked hard both in and out of schooling hours to catch up.

The below expectation came to his Chakra control. He had learnt the hand-signs without difficulty however regardless of how little he had used, the leaf that was used in the leaf exercise would constantly be vaporised whenever he used his Chakra. Not blown away, not destroyed. Vaporised. As in not a single spec of the leaf left.

It had reached the point where Yamato went to pick another leaf from the tree they were using only to find it was barren. Naruto was devastated that he was having such trouble with, from what Yamato onii-chan said, was a basic exercise, sure that Yamato onii-chan and Jiji were disappointed in his lack of progress.

That was far from the truth. Yamato and Jiji, while mildly frustrated by the fact he was struggling with this, were shocked and slightly excited to know that even at four Naruto had enough Chakra to do _that_ to the leaf.

It was heartening to know that he would become such a powerhouse but a bit daunting as chakra control by normal means may be impossible for him. This did not stop Yamato and Naruto from trying however.

Yamato set the bar high, him reaching Tsunade-level chakra control, and was determined to stick to it while Naruto wanted to fulfil his expectations and was too stubborn to back down from a challenge.

In the end they spent nearly a year on the exercise, mostly showing no progress. However well into the eleventh month, where physical and academic time was neglected in favour of the leaf exercise there was finally success. It had been a standard day for the duo. Naruto was working on the leaf exercise while standing next to a large basket full of leaves, after finally getting to the point where it was merely being blow away from his head, when he noticed that the leaf he had just placed on his head had fallen past his eyes.

With a squeal of happiness Naruto called out for his teacher, who had been lying on his side while reading a book. When he had his onii-chan's attention Naruto again demonstrated him using too little chakra which also made the ANBU excited. It would be strange for most to see someone being happy about using too little Chakra; however considering how Naruto had been using too much for almost a year it was a huge step forward. In the end it took another six days to get it right, however he did get it down.

There was celebrating that night at a certain Ramen stand which resulted in piteous crying of a certain ANBU as he mourned over his now starved and deflated wallet, all the while cursing and whispering death threats towards his Hokage.

That was another thing that had happened in around about the third month. The Sandaime had had a spare few hours at lunch to wander, time which he used to see Naruto. When he saw him looking so forlorn after once again disintegrating an entire basket full of leaves the old man invited Naruto to lunch. Which just so happened to the Ichiraku's Ramen stall.

Hiruzen, Ayame and Teuchi were a combination of amusement, shock and happiness, respectively, as Naruto downed his fifth adult sized bowl of ramen before giving a satisfied burp. Ayame actually weighed the amount of ramen Naruto ate and the amount he weighed and found he ate over three quarters his body mass in Ramen.

It was both hilarious and terrifying that someone could do that and not be an Akimichi. Understandably Yamato, as his legal guardian and secondary money source, had words with Sarutobi, demanding that he take full responsibility for what he had unleashed.

Needless to say Hiruzen used his authority as Hokage to get out of trouble and turned it on back on Yamato, telling him that as Naruto's guardian it was his job to break this new obsession. It never happened and the ANBU had never forgiven the Sandaime for doing this to him.

When he was five Yamato decided to gift Naruto with a 'cool new Jutsu' for him to use. After clearing it with the Hokage, which took over a week of assuring the Sandaime that Naruto would be more than capable of handling it.

The event was fairly quiet for the most part, as it was only Naruto, Hiruzen and Yamato, however it had a good feel to it with Naruto smiling the entire day with wide sparkling eyes at his first birthday party. After receiving his Jiji's gift, a set of fake wooden practice Kunai and Shuriken, Yamato approached and told him about his gift.

_**Kage Bushin no Jutsu**_. He informed Naruto of all the benefits and dangers, not that he listened to that part, of using the technique and ensured that he understood exactly how dangerous it was, as was the agreement with the Hokage.

After Naruto gave his usual loud and cheerful response the next day Yamato and the Sandaime took him out to the training ground where Yamato taught him the hand-seals. After he got it down properly and to Yamato's complete satisfaction he summoned his first Kage Bushin.

Or at least it would have been his first Kage Bushin if he hadn't put WAY too much chakra into the Jutsu in his excitement, resulting in him creating his first three hundred Kage Bushin.

Yamato and Hiruzen's jaws dropped to the floor at the sight of a five year old producing more clones than two Kages combined could manage and not even look strained. They knew he would be able to do a lot considering how large his reserves apparently are. However this was ridiculous! Naruto was also in awe and was excited and happy that what he had done had gained such a shocked reaction from his family.

After the shock wore off Yamato decided to experiment with the limits of the Jutsu in Naruto's hands and the results were shocking. Aside from the fact he could create just over a thousand clones with only small fatigue the clones were also considerably more durable. It took three decent, or one powerful, hits to disperse them.

It proved a theory about Naruto's chakra, one which had been considered for some time. Naruto's Chakra was not only large but dense as well.

It would explain why he was having so much trouble with his chakra control, even for someone who had reserves as large as his. To get the same result as a regular ninja to, say, walk up a tree Naruto would need a third the amount of Chakra as someone else.

Now this would be great... if his reserves weren't so colossal. It essentially made his problem with Chakra control three times more difficult than normal, hence why he needed a year of constant repetition of the leaf exercise to get it to stick to his head without atomising it.

It also explained why his Chakra formed an aura when released and how it remained in his muscles despite being flared for only a second, since it was more like runny jelly than water.

Yamato also realised that any Jutsu he learnt had to be at least B-Rank otherwise it would be a wasted effort to learn a supposedly quick and cheap C and D rank Jutsus when he could already spam b-ranks like they were E-rank. This also meant that Naruto's growth would be dedicated towards fixing his Chakra problem. Thankfully he could spread the work now.

After Yamato instructed Naruto on the problems with his Chakra he set half of Naruto's clones, off to walk trees, while telling them to use as little Chakra as possible; while he sent a hundred of them to read books from the library, a hundred to go through the Kage Bushin hand seals until they could do it without hand seals before telling the others to dispel, in order to keep the end-of-day migraine down when he dispelled them all.

He also sent a Moku Bunshin with each group to ensure they met with no problems and acted accordingly. As all the mental activities were in the hand of the Bushins Yamato opted to up the physical training.

...At the time...

"Alright otouto." Yamato began. This was yet another change the year had made. After giving up on being called sensei and instead being called Onii-chan with such a happy voice for so long had worn down the barriers of professionalism. Six months ago. He had never been more happy about being broken under pressure.

"The mental work is now being distributed amongst the clones so now all that is left is physical exercises." Yamato began. Naruto was still looking excited and happy about being pushed to his limits and beyond by his brutal and sadistic teacher.

"However I won't accelerate your training yet as it would not be good to stunt your growth."

Now Naruto looked kinda worried and was nodding enthusiastically. He had developed a phobia about being short, something Yamato monopolised on when he was younger and reluctant to eat his vegetables, which made him very conscious of any comment about his height. Yamato ignored his worried face before continuing.

"However you are at the prime of your life to develop your flexibility and stamina." Not that he needed the latter but every little helped. "So we will be doing several hours of stretching and balancing as well as the usual morning exercises. However After two in the afternoon we will practice meditating until all your clones have all dispelled." The ANBU finished, turning his full attention to Naruto who was looking rather confused.

"Why don't I just dispel them all at once when I'm done?" Naruto asked. Yamato felt exasperated at that comment and had to force himself not to face palm. He was only five so he had some leeway however he had been told of the dangers at least twice now, and implied it a third time. With a sigh he responded.

"Do you remember how you feel after spending half a day reading and writing?" Yamato asked, deciding to explain in parts this time. After getting a confirmation and a pained look the ANBU commander continued.

"Well as you know the Shadow clones transfer all the memories of the clone to you when they dispel." Pause for effect.

"However that is not all you get. You also get all the mental weariness from the clone as well. This means that all the exhaustion that the hundreds of clone you have created will be transferred to you when they dispel. Which will hurt. A lot." Yamato paused again, satisfied to see the look of dawning realisation on the boy's face.

"Therefore unloading the memories and fatigue of all 5600 hours from seven hundred clones would at best knock you unconscious. Possibly kill you at worse." Naruto paled.

"Understand now?" Yamato said with a sweet and cheery tone. Naruto gulped and nodded, finally comprehending the dangers of his new Jutsu.

"By spreading out the dispersal and meditating while it happens will help to let you absorb the information and fatigue without causing damage to your brain." Naruto continued to nod at the mortifying revelation as it came out.

"Now I want you to create a clone then dispel it to transfer this little chat to the other clones so they don't do something stupid." Naruto was already making the clone and a moment later it dispelled itself.

...

Needless to say he slept well that night. He didn't even remember leaving the training ground, everything was just so blurry and unimportant. However the next morning he was all chirpy, as much as a non-morning person could be, and bouncy the next morning.

His mind was refreshed and his previously aching muscles had been healed like the pain had never existed. Before the end of the next day which resulted in the same results. As well as the next, and the next, and the next.

In fact this continued for over a month before things started to improve. Chakra control was still slow going, however he had managed to get near the half way point of the tree.

He had managed to read the entire library already, not including the Chunin and higher only sections, however regardless of how effective the clones were in reducing time spent the human mind did not learn as quickly, the fact he was absorbing thousands of hours of information a day did not help things. Therefore he ended up being instructed to read through the library several times in order to ensure complete memorisation.

A major plus was that Naruto had managed to remove the need for hand seals when performing the Kage Bushin no Jutsu. The best developments however resided in the physical aspect of his training. The flexibility training began rather slowly. Simple stretches, sprinting, push-ups, sit-ups, bridges etc so and so forth. This went on for a couple of weeks before Yamato noticed something.

Naruto was not becoming physically exhausted or particularly sore from the training. He had not noticed it before because the previous example was neither that long nor that intense so it was not unexpected for a stamina freak like Naruto to be ok.

Now that the program had gained momentum the oddity was clear. Naruto's healing factor was high. Very high. Yamato had called in a medic-nin with Chakra detecting abilities to monitor and examine Naruto before, during and after training. The diagnosis was shocking.

In the Medical world there were two forms of healing: 'healing' and regeneration. 'Healing' is the common form of healing method, consisting of the body slowly creating new cells through cell mitosis, with medical/Iryo Jutsu being used to accelerate the process.

However there are a select few, such as the Jashin followers, who don't form new cells through mitosis (Look it up) but through the creation of brand new copies of existing cells by the Chakra collecting materials and using them in the cell creation. Even Senju Tsunade's Sōzō Saisei, Mitotic Regeneration, was only able to accelerate her cell's mitosis rate rather than form actual copies.

In essence Tsunade's technique shortened her life span while Naruto's Chakra just copied a healthy cell and pasted it where it was needed. This was solely possible due to Naruto's unique chakra. Green Chakra was a sign of a Iryo Jutsu.

In order to create such a Chakra you would normally need to alter the chakra to have beneficial properties, this requires excellent control, however Naruto naturally had beneficial Chakra. This would explain why his attacks against those bullies wasn't as severe as they should have been as the Chakra both damaged them and healed their wounds, though to a 7 to 3 ratio considering Naruto's intent.

It made one thing abundantly clear to Yamato. Naruto could be pushed as hard as Yamato wanted without fear of crippling him. And he did.

The following day had a fairly slow start for Naruto. As soon as they arrived at the training grounds Yamato immediately told him to take his clothes off and lie down. A little confused Naruto complied and proceeded to spend the next two hours waiting on his back as Yamato carefully 'wrote' on his arms, legs and chest.

As this went on Yamato informed Naruto of what he was doing and why, which excited the boy because his training would be increased and his new goal, to become Hokage and have everyone recognise him, was becoming closer than before.

That excitement died when he actually experienced it. After the seals were finished and activated Yamato onii-chan instructed him to run around the field. Naruto then realised what the resistance seals _actually_ did.

When he tried to sit up he felt like someone had placed a boulder on him and when he moved his arms to support his suddenly hampered attempts to getup; he noticed his arms were moving in slow motion as he struggled to get them into position.

As Naruto struggled his onii-chan was mocking him for taking so long just to get up, calling him lazy among other things. Finally able to get up, thanks to the emotions which fuelled him because of Yamato's words, he stood for a second, panting at the effort of moving in what felt like water.

After more 'encouragement' from Yamato onii-chan Naruto began his task of running around the field. Or what would have been running if the effort of running was now only making him moving at a slow walking pace.

Finding the struggle to merely walk aggravating Naruto pushed himself harder, making all the muscles in his body groan and ache as they combated the anti-movement abilities of the seals.

Six hours later and it seemed the Medic-nin and Yamato had been right on the money as Naruto was already showing vast improvements in his speed.

Whereas before he was being overtaken by snails he had finally reached the point he could run at a slow trot. On the other hand Naruto looked dead.

He was bathed in sweat, gasping for air, had glazed eyes, tomato red skin and was becoming slightly more gaunt as his body burned through the calories in order to supply his Chakra with the means to recreate his cells. It was at this point Yamato realised he had gone too far and brought Naruto to a stop.

After 1 hour, 15 nutrient bars, 20 litres of water and a soldier pill later Naruto was looking a bit better. His skin had mostly dried and he was no longer dark red, as well as the fact his breathing had returned to normal. While he could also once again focus his eyes he was still gaunt due to the amount of energy his regeneration had demanded of his body. The nutrient bars had saved him from starvation, however there would be no more of this type of training until he got his energy reserves back up to strength.

At the same time it was probably the single most terrifying moment of Yamato's life. More so than any war, mission or even Orochimaru ever was. He had nearly killed his surrogate brother. When he had heard of the regeneration ability he had been excited and wanted to see how far this could increase Naruto's training. He had never stopped to think what this could mean for Naruto. He realised should have been more careful when exploring a new power, instead he had recklessly tested and used his otouto as the test subject. It was at this point he vowed to be more careful when teaching Naruto.

After that incident Yamato deactivated the seal and gave Naruto a week to recover and replenish his energy. It only took him two days to fully recover however Yamato opted to do a gentle training by having Naruto relax with the seal active. This didn't mean that he was lazing. The seal made sure of that. Every movement he made was countered by the seal. Everything from turning his head to lifting an arm to moving a damn finger. Thank the Log that he could still blink and talk without issue.

Despite it supposedly being a light training he went to bed every night exhausted and his entire body aching. However Naruto was progressing nicely. Thanks to the suicide training his onii-chan put him through at the start most of his muscles had already been ripped to shreds and healed already; so while it was exhausting the worst of it had actually passed and he was able to move with only mild effort.

The biggest issue was the food issue. Naruto had always been a big eater so when his training first began Naruto was eating over four thousand calories a day. The last week he had been eating twice that. This of course meant the food bill went up by a large margin. Fortunately the Hokage was willing and able to increase the stipend being paid to keep him.

Despite the general improvements he was still not comfortable with training with the seal yet. The last time he did it nearly killed him, though he didn't actually know that it nearly actually _did_, so he was a bit worried about it, despite Yamato's apologies and promise of lighter training. This however was effectively suppressed by his trust in his brother figure and Naruto's unwavering determination and stubbornness.

For the next year the physical training went much more slowly. It was still a struggle, especially when Yamato increased the power to the seals, however the regiment was kept to a minimal as Yamato opted to let the Resistance Seal do its work for them rather than force it. Nice and slow was the best. Yeah. No more speed training from Yamato. Nope... Not till he was older at least.

There was a major negative discovery this year which resided in the Chakra control he had. It was getting worse. Yamato was banging his head for hours after he realised it. Partially because all the effort to fix his chakra control problem was being lost but mostly because he did not realise that this would happen.

The problem was that as he got older, and his knowledge and body developed; add to the fact he was depleting his reserves making shadow clones and healing his injuries, his ying and yang chakras increased and since his Chakra was naturally large already the percentage increase these factors produced was, unfortunately, massive. In fact after measuring his chakra again, after his progress up the tree got worse, it was discovered his chakra reserves were 70% bigger than before and 20% denser . (_**Think of it like this: Normal size and density for a High-Chunin is 100. When the story began Naruto's was at 700 reserve and 300 density. They are now 1190 and 360 respectively.**_)

This left them with a problem. Yamato was planning to start teaching Naruto some Jutsus when he finally was able to walk on water however with the sudden plummet in Chakra control it would be a race just to keep up with his Chakra growth.

It was after this revelation that Yamato, unwilling to let his lofty goal of perfect Chakra control go, opted to increase the number of clones created and have Naruto focus solely on Chakra control. The entire thing disheartened Naruto as it had been the biggest problem in his training and now his hard work was being undone. However after a pep talk from Yamato he rekindled his fire to even greater heights of yout- why did I- never mind.

...At that time...

Naruto sat on a log in the training area. Over the months it had begun to look quite worn out. There were a number of damaged trees which had definite signs of foot prints on the trunks, while some had foot prints _through_ the trunks.

The ground had been gouged from where Naruto had run and a dead tree was present on the edge which had died after all its leaves had been plucked for the purpose of being destroye- I mean used for Chakra control. Overall the training ground was kind of beat up from the pounding it had been given, however if you looked closely you could notice older scars which told of other trainees. The training ground would recover in time. A long time.

Naruto however was not really looking at the training ground. He was looking over his memories, and the memories of his clones. It was devastating. The amount of hours he had poured into it overall was simply ridiculous. Most people could complete all the Chakra control exercises within a year, if they were lazy, and yet Naruto had spent five years worth of time just getting near to the top of the damn tree.

Naruto let out a sigh of despair. Feeling weighted by the knowledge that all that pain and suffering would soon be for naught. When onii-chan had informed him of the problem Naruto struggled not to cry. He waited until after Yamato onii-chan had gone on a quick errand before he did that.

The next five minutes were dedicated after he was out of sight had been dedicated to relieving his frustrations. Whether that was by punching a tree of simply weeping. Now he was just sitting on his little log wondering what the point of trying harder was.

'_All that effort. __**Wasted.**_' were Naruto's thoughts.

Without him knowing it Yamato had already returned and was watching the slacking boy cry over spilt milk. He let out a sigh as he tried to look at things from Naruto's angle. All that work and he had just been told it was for nothing.

"_yeah, I have no right to talk. I would probably be bawling like a two year old._" Yamato thought.

"_Well time to buck up otouto._"

"Naruto." Yamato called out as he revealed himself.

Naruto jumped in surprise and embarrassment as his older brother figure appeared with a slightly disapproving look on his face.

"Are you going to give up?" Yamato asked in a neutral voice. Naruto flinched at the emotionless tone his brother gave him before looking away from him in uncertainty and shame. He didn't know what to do. What is the point of fighting the river? Why combat the wind? In the end the gesture is futile and heartbreaking. But he didn't want to give up. He had promised himself and onii-chan that he would become a strong ninja and prove to everyone his worth.

Seeing the conflict in Naruto face Yamato chose bring the hammer down.

"Well that is too damn bad because I refuse to let you."

Naruto head shot up to look at his brother-teacher with shock and curiosity.

"I have invested **way** too much time and effort on you for you to give up now. I will drag you to the top kicking and screaming if I have to. I will never give up and do you know why? Because you are my otouto and I believe that you can become the greatest ninja that has ever lived."

Yamato said with an air of resolution. No doubt laced his words nor did weakness cross his eyes. Naruto's eyes on the other hand were laced with tears and a growing determination as his eyes became alight with fresh flames.

"Now are you going to get onto your feet and walk this path with me?" Yamato finished flashing a loving and gentle smile.

Naruto wiped the tears from his eyes before giving Yamato onii-chan a wide grin.

"Walk? That takes too long. Let's run!"

With big smiles the two began a newer and more intense training regimen.

...

After doubling the number of clones used and dedicating them all towards Chakra control Naruto was able to recover the ground lost and begin to progress again. It was slow and agonising however Naruto refused to give up and Yamato made sure to encourage him.

By the time Naruto turned Six years old he had begun his Water walking exercise.

As all this was going on Yamato continued the physical exercises, however he put it on the back burner in favour of experimenting with Naruto's Chakra.

...At that time...

"Alright otouto today we are taking a break from physical exercising." Yamato stated. Naruto cocked his head and his face scrunched up in confusion. Yamato was sure that if a woman was nearby she would squeal and shout 'KAWAII' before glomping the boy, Jinchuriki or not.

"What are we doing then onii-chan?" Naruto questioned.

"We are going to be experimenting with your chakra." Yamato stated, causing Naruto to blink as he was still a bit confused.

"Due to the fact your chakra is so unique in its composition (1) and the fact it is large and dense makes it almost a kekkai genkai." Naruto raised an eyebrow at that, though not in confusion but in surprise.

"As such we must experiment to find out its limits and abilities. We already know about your regeneration so that's one thing out of the way."

Naruto looked confused again, something which made Yamato confused.

"What's wrong Naruto?"

"I was just wondering why we didn't do this earlier?" Naruto asked of his Onii-chan. It was a very good question. A very good question. One Yamato was struggling to find an answer for.

"uh... well... you see... I was going to at the beginning however I thought it best to get ahead in your studies so I dedicated our time to that. Then once that was done I thought that it might be best if your chakra control was higher before we started to mess around." Yamato took a breath.

"However when that was completed you got the Kage Bushin no Jutsu which accelerated your training which I wanted to closely monitor. After that was when we discovered your regeneration-" Yamato flinched as he said this "-and resultant recovery. After which I got a bit... um... scared which made me opt not to continue. Ahem."

Naruto nodded at that. After the first time he used the resistance seals Yamato onii-chan had acted paranoid and had been doting on Naruto for over a month before he manned up again. Naruto had stumbled upon a medical book some time afterwards which had explained what exactly had happened that day and why it freaked his onii-chan out. It definitely freaked him out.

"Anyway we are doing it now so let's try out some things which I noticed over the last couple of years." Yamato said.

"Now you remember how to move your chakra through your body correct?" Naruto nodded.

"Ok them I want you to pour as much chakra through your body's Chakra network as you can." Yamato said. Naruto looked confused again however he quickly complied.

Naruto directed his chakra through his Chakra network causing Naruto to feel a surge of energy as the Chakra infused with his muscles, eyes, etc. That's when it happened.

He was so focused upon moving his chakra that he didn't notice it at first however when he was done he realised that he was glowing a soft green. Surrounding his body was a coating of inch deep Chakra which seemed to act as a second skin.

Naruto looked towards Yamato for instructions only to find that he too was in awe. Breaking out of his reverie Yamato noticed Naruto's bewildered eyes which prompted him to continue with the exercise.

"Alright Naruto I want you to try punching that Tree over there-" he said pointing at a random tree "and see what happens. Make sure that you focus upon what you're doing so we can review the results."

Naruto nodded before going up to the tree left of the one Yamato actually pointed at. Yamato shrugged as it didn't matter which tree he actually hit. Getting into a stance Naruto proceeded to punch the tree with all his strength.

***BOOM***

***CRACK***

Both sets of eyes widened at the damage caused. Naurto's arm was shoulder deep inside the tree and there were large factures going up, down and around the tree trunk. There was an awkward silence as Naruto slowly pulled his arm out of the hole that he created, his green aura still surrounding him.

"Incredible." Yamato said in a tone which voiced his awe. Only Tsunade would have been have been able to do anything like that to the tree, though she would have blow the thing apart. It was comparable to Inu-Senpai's Chidori but with more brute power.

Naruto was also in awe, especially now that he had noticed onii-chan's. Looking at the tree he noticed that it now looked decidedly unsafe so he moved away from it to stand next to Yamato onii-chan.

"Um" Yamato started "Alright, how we know that this... Chakra aura has high offensive abilities let's see how it does with defence."

"Now I want you to get to stand there and I'm going to lightly hit you." Naruto nodded again, though this time he looked a bit worried. Deciding not to address it Yamato continued with the experiment.

Faster than Naruto could see Yamato smashed his fist into Naruto's stomach with a decent amount of force as Naruto was sent sailing backward several feet before crashing to the ground. Yamato was suddenly concerned he may have used a bit too much force in that attack.

Rushing over he sighed in relief as Naruto managed to reach a sitting position without any difficulty, his green aura still active.

"Are you alright?" Yamato asked. Naruto looked at him in a bit of a daze however he nodded it head.

"Y- yeah I'm fine. At least I don't feel any pain or anything." Naruto confirmed.

"Good. That was only Genin level however it is a very impressive that you didn't feel anything." Yamato complimented, making Naruto feel slightly happy.

"Yosh, now we know what you can do let's find the limit. Since it's easier than finding a boulder to smash let's start with me beating you around the training ground until you feel something."

Naruto promptly paled before gulping in a mixture of anxiety and sheer terror.

Feeling no pain is nice. However being beaten up is scary regardless of whether or not you feel it.

For the next hour Yamato punch Naruto around the Training ground as Yamato slowly increased his strength until Naruto finally felt a slight sting at around high-chunin level.

...

Over the two months leading up to his sixth birthday Naruto and Yamato continued to experiments with the density aspect of Naruto's Chakra, seeing if the 'Chakra Armor' could be modified and shaped such as create a shield or a sword or a dome barrier.

Once Naruto got the hang of manipulating and shaping his Chakra it did not take much effort to create virtually anything you could thing off. Though creating anything too big took up way too much Chakra and ended up fatiguing him, the lead example was when Naruto tried to create a massive frog out of Chakra. He managed it however the drain and the amount of Chakra it took to create a construct that size with the density to have physical properties was exhausting.

After learning to condense the armour the defence value went up to mid-Jounin. However the level of Concentration required made this useless until it could be done effortlessly, the same was true with the Chakra constructs.

Yamato noted the armour could possibly be the similar to the shaping step of the Raiton no Yoroi the Raikage uses. It would require testing later when Naruto managed to complete the walker walking exercise and the elemental manipulation training began.

Life continued for some time as it had before. Wake up, breakfast, training all day, bed and relaxation in the evening. Fairly gruelling for a six year old however without anyone to play with or anything to do Naruto was more than happy to go through gruelling training day after day.

This all changed however shortly after Naruto's birthday when he went to the academy.

...Shortly After First Birthday First day at academy...

It was the day of the Academy and Naruto was feeling excited, scared and sad. Excited because of how he could go to the Academy and begin his path to becoming a Shinobi. Sad because it would cut into the time he could spend with his Onii-chan. Scared because he knew what he could expect from the academy. The hateful glares of parents and teachers and the whispers of children who had been told not to talk to him.

It almost made him want not to go. Not that he would voice that to Jiji and Onii-chan. Jiji seemed excited by the prospect of him going to the Academy, seeming to think he may be able to make some friends there or something, while Onii-chan was hopeful of the same thing and it was clear he wanted to get back to missions, something that he hadn't really done in two years.

Naruto couldn't begrudge them for thinking these things as he too was hopeful in making friends, though he didn't expect he would, and Yamato Onii-chan had already dedicated A LOT of time into him so it would be unfair to demand him to continue training him all day every day until he became a ninja.

Aside from that he had his own determination to support him. Yamato Onii-chan had opted not to teach him throwing techniques or the basic three Jutsus as he would learn that in the academy, and he was curious how the teachers would treat Naruto. He too believed in the Will of Fire after all, he just wish it was justified.

Naruto approached the gates of the academy to find his fear justified. As soon as he came into sight half the parent subtly told their children to stay away from him, the other half just straight out said it.

Naruto just sighed as he realised that finding a friend was a forlorn hope. The parents wouldn't want him anywhere near their children and, as the psychology book said, would take the opportunity and bully him, safe with the knowledge that they wouldn't be told off.

Ignoring all their glares Naruto proceeded to enter the class room he was supposed to go to. When he got there he was the only one in the room, as he was early and the children were still saying goodbye to their parents. It was another ten minutes before the other kids started walking in.

The first to arrive was a pineapple haired boy with a expression on his face which screamed 'troublesome' and a chubby boy eating a pack of crisps in his hand who had brown hair and spirals on his cheeks . They seemed to be friends as they sat together behind him, with the lazy looking one was next to the window.

After that the other kids started to pour in, all of whom were a variety of shapes and colours. Pink haired girl, blonde girl, idiot with dog on his head, weirdo wearing a high collar jacket and goggles, girl with lavender eyes, girl with black... eyes.

The last one got his attention. He knew who the Uchiha and recognised that she too was one due to their black eyes, the Uchiha symbol on her back was also a dead giveaway but give points for figuring it out from just her eyes. Why did she get his attention? Because he found her beautiful. (12 year old Satsuki in profile) He was 6 so he had no clue what was going on or what he was feeling but he just felt attracted to her. Unfortunately the girl didn't so much as glance at him and sat at the other side of the classroom.

After the last few students trickled in two Shinobi came in, one with a large scar over his nose appeared in the class room while the other had silver hair. Nose Scar was smiling for the most part except for when his eyes fell on Naruto where his smile falter for a second before it returned when he continued to look over the class.

"Greetings everyone. My name is Iruka Umino and this is my co-teacher Mizuki. Today is the first day on your journey to becoming a Ninja of the leaf. It will not be an easy task though. It will require great effort and a steady resolve to become Ninja as it is a long and dangerous road to follow, however I am sure that together you will all succeed."

Iruka said with a happy smile while Mizuki simply looked bored.

"Now let's do a roll call, let's see, ah Akimichi Choji?" Iruka asked

"Here." Said the chubby boy,

"Ok, Aburame Shino?"

"Here." Said/mumbled the kid in shades.

Iruka continued down the list, calling names and waiting for the answer from the respective children.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" Naruto almost jumped at that as he had entered a near dozing stage between the speech and the roll call.

"Here!" Nearing the happy tone Iruka paused before he continued.

"Uchiha Satsuki?" Naruto perked slightly at that and turned to look at the suspected Uchiha to get a confirmation on her name.

"Here" Came the feminine reply from the Uchiha girl.

"_Satsuki (_**May**_)? Lovely name._" Naruto thought dreamily.

Iruka-sensei finished roll call before once again addressing the class.

"Ok now that everyone is here we'll begin with the first task and that is unlocking your Chakra. Can I have a show of hands for those who have already unlocked their Chakra?"

Naruto and all the Clan members raised their hands. Iruka nodded and set out to instruct all the people who's chakra was still locked. While this was going on the people who didn't need instruction talked amongst each other.

Most of them at least. I was left alone with no one sitting next to me or paying attention to me, just like their parents said.

"You're Naruto right?" came a voice from behind. Looking around in surprise he was met with the plump face of one Choji.

"Uh yeah." Choji Smiled.

"Choji" he said pointing to himself. "And this is Shikamaru." Pointing at the now sleeping Nara.

Naruto nodded in acknowledgement, still rather surprised about the unexpected introduction.

"We were going to watch clouds during the break do you want to join?" the Akimichi asked.

Naruto blinked as he processed the invitation before his face split into a massive smile.

"Sure!" Naruto exclaimed with a big grin still on his face. Choji smiled back, finding that grin to be infectious. Even the lazy Nara, who had cracked an eye to watch Choji's attempt at making friends, mustered the energy to make a small smile.

When the initial introductory classes were finished and the first break began Naruto, Shikamaru and Choji found a nice patch of grass and lay down next to each other and watched the clouds pass. Naruto didn't understand how Shikamaru liked it so much however he did understand why he did it.

Looking into the blue sky and cotton clouds was oddly relaxing. All the worries, fears and pain he experienced seemed to be... soothed, for a lack of a better word, as if the clouds that past were somehow delicately stroking the sores of his mind.

The only thing that ruined it was the sound of Choji munching on his crisps and the annoying people playing in the play ground. But Naruto didn't let it bother him as this was the first thing he had ever done with people his age, if you don't count fighting.

This went on for about ten minutes before a bell rang for everyone to return to class.

This pattern went on for the rest of the day until the Academy ended at three o'clock when the parents came to pick up all the children. Despite his own instinct and advice Naruto stayed to watch loving parents pick up their sons and daughters and ask them how their day was, all with kind loving smiles.

Yamato and Jiji were close to him and he loved them. However he always felt something was missing. Never sure what it was but knew there was a hole in his heart. And now it was aching.

He knew he shouldn't have stayed.

...

Arriving back at his apartment he was greeted by a smiling Yamato.

"How did school go." He asked warmly. Despite still feeling a bit pained Naruto was able to conjure a decently genuine smile at the question, just enough to fool Yamato.

"Great! I managed to make a couple of friends called Choji and Shikamaru!" Naruto exclaimed happily.

"We spent our breaks watching clouds. It was really relaxing." Naruto told him. His smile faltered however when he recalled Iruka-sensei.

"Though I don't think the sensei likes me." He admitted, allowing a bit of his depression to slip through. Yamato could only nod as he knew that Iruka was Naruto's Sensei however he also knew Iruka was a good man and hoped he would see past his hate.

However he noticed something of what Naruto had said. 'Cloud watching'. It was a Nara hobby which almost every single Nara male participated in. He then realised something that he should have done long ago. And Yamato thought he had the perfect thing for Naruto to when he was on missions.

"Hey Naruto I'm going to be going on a missions again in a week time." Naruto slouched slightly at that comment. "However I have an idea of what you can do in the mean time."

Naruto looked at him in confusion before coming to the conclusion that he was talking about a training regiment or a new Jutsu to learn or maybe a fighting style to learn. Now extremely interested Naruto shifted his body and eyes in order to optimise his focus.

"You need a hobby." Yamato stated with a cruel smirk.

Naruto blinked.

...

(1) Naruto has read the dictionary 5 times so he knows more words and has a larger vocabulary. He is now the most well spoken person in his class.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Yo!**_

_**OMG O.O **_

_**Another Chapter just after the other one! Am I good or am I good? You don't care you just want a decent story. **_

_**Wow over a hundred follows, 80 something favs and over 2k views! I didn't expect it to go so well really I was sure you I would only have half that by now. So Thanks!**_

_**While I managed to get this out in less than three days I don't want you to think this is regular. I was suprised I managed two in a month. This one is also only 7.5k.**_

_**Anyway here is the next chapter, enjoy!**_

_**Update: Stupid thing didn't upload the bold and underline with the prank! It was there I swear!**_

_**30/01/14 : Update! Slight alterations! I could sworn I saw more when I read through it. Oh well.**_

Chapter 3

"Hey Naruto I'm going to be going on a missions again in a week time." Naruto slouched slightly at that comment. "However I have an idea of what you can do in the mean time."

Naruto looked at him in confusion before coming to the conclusion that he was talking about a training regiment or a new Jutsu to learn or maybe a fighting style to learn. Now extremely interested Naruto shifted his body and eyes in order to optimise his focus.

"You need a hobby." Yamato stated with a cruel smirk.

Naruto blinked.

"Hobby?" Naruto asked. He of course knew what Yamato onii-chan meant, he just didn't what the hell he 'meant'.

"Yes, something fun you can do which you can do in your spare time." Naruto blinked again, his face still scrunched up in confusion.

"Can't I just do more training." Yamato sighed at that but forged onwards.

"You can however it is extremely stressful and doesn't help you to relax or forget your worries in the slightest." Naruto focused on the 'forget your worries' part and thought back to how he felt when watching the clouds.

"So I'll take up cloud watching?/!" Naruto asked/stated. Yamato shook his head however.

"The Nara are genetically lazy which makes an easy hobby like cloud watching perfect for them." He countered.

"You however are hyperactive. I had to glue you to the chair more than once when I started teaching you history because you wouldn't sit still." Naruto had the grace to look embarrassed at that. After losing five pairs of trousers to that seat he had learnt to sit still however even today he was restless despite that.

"No. Cloud watching is fine if you want to relax for a moment however it is not suited for a hobby. However there is something you may be good at." His smile again becoming sadistic. Naruto was slightly concerned by that smile but chose to bite the Kunai.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"Pranking!" Yamato declared excitedly. Naruto gave him an incredulous look.

"What?"

"Think about it. It takes a lot of energy, especially when running from the angry pranked! It is difficult but the results are spectacular, you can target the meaner of the village and Hokage-sama will get more paperwork because of it!" Naruto was a bit creeped out by his onii-chan's need to make Naruto's Jiji suffer however he did like the idea. It was a weird hobby but it sounded fun. Yamato, seeing how the idea was getting Naruto's attention, decided to place the icing on the cake.

"Plus it will be great training. Depending upon the prank you will be having Chunin, Jonin and even ANBU after you so it will help with your speed, endurance and quick thinking to shake them off." Naruto's head bobbed up and down slowly as he processed the icing as it came. "It will also require planning, stealth and flamboyance which will be useful when infiltrating enemy territory."

Icing done all that was left was the Cherry.

"It would also be something to talk about with your friends."

And sold.

Naruto froze before he put on a big grin which he soon directed at Yamato.

"ALRIGHT, THEN I'M GOING TO PRANK THE ENTIRE VILLAGE!" Yamato smiled at the boy's enthusiasm. Oblivious to the monster he had just unwittingly unleashed upon Konoha.

Hiruzen would not be the only one to find his way into its path of destruction.

...Two months later...

Naruto began pranking the next day. Small things at first. Putting the chalk eraser over the door, tying someone's shoe laces together, taking someone's school book from them and then giving it back just when they got in trouble etc. Nothing overly big and he got caught a lot at the beginning.

However after Yamato left a week later, as promised, Naruto upped his game. He began creating traps and various paint compounds for the purpose of making someone's life as miserable as possible. He began to carefully plan his pranks after his first few failures and proceeded to make a multitude of plans.

In the month that Yamato was on his mission half of Konoha was thrown into Chaos. Exploding paint traps in shops and alleys, smelly bombs planted in the houses of his more vocal haters, people waking up with fake snakes in their beds and drunkards making out with random animals when they wake up, putting super spicy chilli powder in some Jonins sake and various others.

He even made a random Chunin, and everyone who saw it, think he had killed the Blonde by swiftly stealing one of his Kunai, coating it in rabbit blood and then subtly placing it into the unsuspecting Chunin's hand when he walked into him by 'accident' revealing a bloody spot on his orange jumper, which was caused by a bag of rabbit blood, leaving the 'perpetrator' being left literally red-handed hold the 'murder weapon' as Naruto fell to the ground 'dead'.

The look of horror on the Chunin's face and the way everyone looked at him like a psychopath was hilarious and he almost broke the act. Another ninja actually tried to arrest him until Naruto suddenly disappeared while leaving behind a 'you've been pranked' note. Later Naruto was forever grateful that he had stayed around long enough to hear the Chunin scream profanities in the wake of the young Blonde's prank, even if doing so caused him to get caught.

Naruto had also noticed a man with silver hair walking down the street with a strange orange book in his hand. Naruto decided to try to steal it and then make the man think that it had been destroyed by burning a fake where he could see it. It would have been awesome. If the Jonin in question wasn't so protective of it. He didn't get anywhere near snatching it before the Jonin caught him.

He was kind enough to compliment and provide advice for Naruto to work with before he handed him over to Iruka for a verbal beating.

It was good advice. Which he promptly used the next day to steal the book. It was a failure that time too, and this time he didn't get anymore advice as the man no longer looked amused.

Naruto opted NOT to push his luck any further with that one. At least until he increased his stealth skill.

When Yamato returned four weeks later he came face to face with a livid Hokage who, after getting reports about the aftermath of Naruto's new hobby, was surrounded by paperwork and looking very exhausted.

"Tenzo. You better be able to explain to me why you have Naruto pranking half of Konoha or so help me I will demote you to Genin." Tenzo eyes widened in terror and horror.

"_NARUTO, YOU TRAITOR!_"

"Um I thought Naruto needed a hobby and Pranking suited him." Killing intent poured in from all sides as the Hokage and hidden ANBU displayed their displeasure and voiced their warning that he was on THIN ice.

"He- it al- also serves as tra-training because of the requirements needed to successfully prank someone and get away with it." Yamato gulped as the killing intent didn't abate.

"It is an important outlet in order to relieve the stress from training and the animosity of the village" It was a bit of a cheat excuse but it was also true.

True to his expectation the Sandaime caved and with him the ANBU. With a sigh the Hokage composed himself.

"Couldn't you have gotten him to do gardening or story writing or something?"

Tenzo's eyes widened slightly, thankful he had opted to wear his mask for the meeting(He is still an ANBU).

"_Gardening! He would have liked gardening!_" He thought. Pranking was still a good training method though.

"Um, how is he doing?" Yamato asked the Hokage. He flinched when the Sandaime glared at him but relaxed when the old man sighed again and gave the Blonde's guardian a report of his escapades.

"Extremely well. Despite his choice of clothing he is rarely caught before he strikes and is often long gone from the scene before anyone even realises what happened. " Yamato was impressed. The Hokage continued on, grudging respect in his voice.

"Most of the pranks are fairly childish and easy to clean up however his more elaborate ones are scary. He actually made a seasoned Chunin think he had killed him using his own Kunai!" Yamato was very impressed.

"However during the chases the Chunin participate in always result in him being caught, though it has been taking longer and longer for him to be caught. His speed is barely Genin however his use of his smaller size and evasive manoeuvring have been giving all the Chunin quite the work out. Even a few bruises."

Ok NOW Yamato was impressed. He didn't expect Naruto to be this good. He was sure that it would take months for Naruto to get this good. He had real talent for infiltration on top of being a powerhouse.

Tenzo was torn from his thoughts by the authority in his Hokages voice as he continued in a more reprimanding tone.

"While I accept that Naruto needs a hobby, and he is obviously enjoying it, I want you to get him to slow down the pranks. I can't keep up with the complains and paperwork at this rate."

Tenzo nodded.

"Hai Hokage-sama." Tenzo acknowledged.

"Good now where is your report for the mission?"

...

After the report had been handed in Yamato had gone looking for Naruto in the hope of stopping him before the Hokage lost his temper. It was at his point that he felt the full effects of Naurto's talents.

He first searched around Naruto's apartment before heading towards the training ground, making the mistake to go by the usual route.

He noticed the ninja wire a mile away and promptly stepped over it. Only to put his foot through a hole in the ground thereby triggering a hidden wire trap that was in the ground. Caught off balance and with a foot trapped in the ground Yamato was defenceless as a bucket filled with glue fell straight onto his head.

In a panic Yamato stumbled around blindly as he struggled to remove the bucket from his head before the glue set. Which he managed. Just before he fell into a pit trap which was filled with pink feathers. Yamato lay in the pile for a few seconds fuming about how badly he had been pranked, and rather proud that his student (couldn't bring himself to call him a brother at this moment) had managed to get him at all.

Still fuming Yamato climbed out of the pit, now covered in pink feathers, and began to stomp his way back to the training ground. He was so caught up in his anger and embarrassment from his humiliation that he failed to notice the trip wire that was on the ground, which caused him to promptly fall on his face.

When Yamato gained a semblance of control over himself again he finally got up before noticing something was on his face. It was a flamingo beak.

_***SNAP***_

Yamato began to release massive amounts of killing intent before he charged in a blind rage towards the training ground with the full intent of beating the respect into his delinquent surrogate brother. All the while apparently not noticing that his rage's target was sitting in a tree not ten metres away struggling with all his will power not to laugh his ass off.

When he thought he was safe Naruto let out a full blown _howl_ of laughter at the misfortune that had befell his onii-chan. He had actually been set up by Hokage Jiji to do it after Naruto had been coerced into revealing Yamato's part in his new pastime.

Naruto, having developed a sadis- *Cough* love for pranking, had readily agreed to the idea and had spent the last week carefully planning this prank. It was filled with secondary and tertiary triggers and, should his onii-chan bypass all of them he had a second pranks hidden in reserve just in case, all with its own back up triggers. It was truly a work of art something which he took genuine pride in even if it might have got him cau-

"_Naruto-__**kun**_" came a icy voice behind him.

He froze. Naruto was terrified to look behind him. He knew nothing good would come of it. But he couldn't stop. He had to look. So he did. Turning his head around slowly he came face to face with Yamato's _**Ghoul Eyes Jutsu**_ and, somehow, the feathers and beak actually made it scarier.

Naruto gulped at the sight. Yamato rarely used this on him, especially not recently, but it had always cowed him into submission. This time was no different.

"H- h- hai!" Naruto stuttered as sweat poured in torrents down his face as those eyes _bore_ into him.

"_**You were the one who created those traps right**__?_"

Naruto gulped as Yamato stared at him. There was no escape. There would be a punishment for this. Naruto's sole hope was to lessen the punishment if only slightly, and there was only one way to do that.

"J-Jiji made me." He said, employing every last shred of acting ability he had. Putting on an air of regret and submission Naruto forged on.

"He- *Sniff* he made me do it. *Sniff* I said I didn't wanna prank onii-chan but *sniff* he said he would pay the Ichiraku not to serve me Ramen and *Sniff* would prevent me from buying orange clothes." It was tricky but Naruto managed to put an almost genuine display of sorrow and repentance with tears, runny nose and everything. It failed though.

"_**Oh? So that childish laughter I heard was Hokage-sama's fault too huh?**_"

Yamato countered, his eyes still staring at him with that technique. He didn't even blink, how the hell does he do that!?

"_SHIT! I forgot about that! Damn think Naruto THINK!_" And as if all the mighty Log took pity on him a thought managed to make it though that thick skull of his.

"Y- yes, Jiji was hiding with me until a moment ago in a Henge. He was here a moment ago but he seems to be gone." It was brilliant! A perfect lie and one that couldn't be proven to be false, or rather Yamato wouldn't bother to confront him about it.

Yamato cancelled his Doujutsu and allowed his eyes to be set into a doubtful glare, giving Naruto enough relief to breathe again.

"Fine." He said. "I'll buy it for now, but _**Naruto-kun. We will be having words in a more 'favourable' environment**__._"

Yamato said as he reactivated his Ghoul Eyes Jutsu, once again frozen in place is sheer terror.

It was going to be a long day for Naruto and, despite it all, ...he wouldn't change anything for anything.

...

Yamato's 'favourable environment' consisted of Naruto being hung upside down from a tree while avoiding being used as a piñata by Yamato onii-chan as his surrogate brother ranted at him for the latter half of the day.

It had been an interesting experience for Naruto as the act of dodging involved the use of muscles he had never used before and the application of someone he didn't think he would use. Overall it was great training, even though he only dodge most of them at the beginning as his onii-chan grew increasingly aggravated.

Two hours before sunset Yamato finally calmed down after he had sufficiently unleashed his anger and the solution to dissolve the glue had finished working, though Naruto withholding the information till only an hour ago didn't help much.

After he had let Naruto down Yamato questioned him on his week and how his pranking went. Despite his reaction Yamato was extremely impressed with Naruto's prank on him. Very few could say they could prank an ANBU and even fewer would have the gall and balls to try. Naruto, it seemed, was one of those very few.

He was just as impressed as Naruto regaled him with his exploits, success and failures, and what he had learnt from it all. Though he opted not to inform him of how much time and effort he had put into Yamato's prank. He didn't want to be hanging in the tree all night after all.

The conversation eventually turned to the Academy.

"So how are the teachers and other kids treating you?" Yamato asked. He was hoping for a positive response but was more than prepared for a negative.

"So-so" Naruto replied. That he had not expected.

"Meaning?" Yamato inquired.

"Well, my teacher, Iruka-sensei, has stopped acting strange around me and is trying to teach me like everyone else. But his assistance Mizuki-sensei always glares at me and only help reluctantly." Yamato's face was set in a sort of smile-frown as he tried to project his happiness and encouragement to Naruto which warred against the anger towards this Mizuki leaked into his features.

Naruto didn't notice this and continued on.

"I haven't made any more friends and most of the kids stay away from me and look down on me. Though the major bullies have dried up after I began my pranking." That would do it. Imagine being the target of the Pranking Demon, a nickname the Hokage mentioned when Tenzo was dismissed. If even he, his loving brother, suffered THIS MUCH from one prank then he couldn't imagine the fate of one that pissed the Blonde off.

"You were right that my pranks were of interest and Shikamaru even gave me advice on how to plan them, though they don't have much interest in the pranks themselves." Naruto said a bit forlornly. He didn't expect them to be ecstatic about them but he had hoped they would find them interesting or even funny.

Yamato nodded. It seemed things still weren't great around the village but he was happy that Naruto enjoyed himself and was able to keep himself occupied.

"By the way did you neglect your other training?" Yamato asked, his eyes once more becoming dangerous and his tone gaining an edge to them.

"N-No. I kept up with it every day like you told me to." Naruto said a bit nervously. He was a tad traumatised by the punishment he had just received.

"I see, and was there any progress?" They both knew what exactly he was referring to. The shadow clones were only doing one thing.

"A bit onii-chan, I can now stand a bit in the water however it's only after I have half submerged into the water and I'm concentrating really hard." Yamato nodded encouragingly. He did not expect for even a second that Naruto would make vast progress in that regard. Chakra control was extremely difficult for those with big reserves and seeing as he had the biggest in history, a size that was still growing, it would be far more shocking if he had done well.

"That is good progress. Better that I thought to be honest." This actually was true. "I'm sure you will be able to stand on the water by your seventh birthday." He said confidently with a kind smile while giving the little Blonde's hair a tussle. Naruto, despite himself, grinned widely at that and was extremely happy that his brother believed in him.

"Comeon I'll buy you some Ramen from Ichiraku's." Naruto proceeded to give a loud whooping sound before Yamato's voice overrode his own.

"But only THREE bowls."

"aaaaawwwwwwwww." Naruto moaned softly. But he still skipped and ran around Yamato in excitement as he walked towards the Ramen place.

...

The following month had shown great, for Naruto, improvements in Naruto's Chakra control. All his clones pushed themselves extra hard every day in order to stand on the water. In the end he was only going two inches shallower into the water however it required less concentration to do that much.

As his clones were doing that Naruto was once again undergoing physical training with an even higher resistance seal than before. He was still only mid-genin with the seals off, though he always had them on so it seemed like he was weak at the Academy.

Naruto didn't care about that though. Let them think what they want for now he would just prove them wrong when he took the seals off. When Yamato onii-chan told him how. Yamato had wanted to remove all temptation from Naruto and opted NOT to teach him now.

Naruto didn't mind too much. It was annoying being so weak because of the seals, however he trusted his onii-chan completely.

Aside from that there was no real change in Naruto's life until the Third month since his birthday. At this time Yamato was once again going off on a mission, this time for two months. So Naruto was back to pranking, though it was more subdued and spread out than the 'Month of Terror', with Naruto focusing more on the planning in order to create sure-fire ways of pulling the prank off and escaping.

It was not always successful however he now had a higher success ratio. He was actually happy he did not always succeed. Because if he did then he would not have met 'her'.

...

Naruto was running with all his might after a late evening prank to escape the Villagers he had just victimised. It appears they do not appreciate having their houses being painted neon pink. He would have gotten away with it too if it hadn't been for that meddling- wait that doesn't sound like Naruto!

Anyway he was running and he was slowly getting away. His seal meant he was still slower than most civilians however he was much smaller and knew all the secret passages to throw them off.

He used one of them now to finally disappear from sight and reach the clear. Letting out a sigh of relief he breathed deeply to reduce the beating of his heart to a calm and steady beat. It was not until he was done that he notice a slight sob coming from the alley he had ducked into.

Looking around he finally found a teen with purple pineapple styles hair sitting mid way into the alley hold a fairly large bottle of sake in her hands as she sobbed quietly to herself. Her face was in her knees while her elbows rested on said knees, effectively hiding her eyes from the world. Or maybe her from the world.

Naruto was confused and he didn't know what was wrong with her. But there was one thing clear. She was in sad. Nothing else mattered aside from this fact and, in his need to ease her pain, he approached her before giving her head a gentle hug.

The girl obviously had not heard him at all as she flinched when he hugged her. She looked up into his eyes as he looked in hers. He saw the pain she was too slow to hide and he in turn allowed her to see his. Tears still flowing freely down her cheek she grabbed hold of him and drew him into a tighter hug, which he reciprocated with as much force as he could muster.

She was openly sobbing into his orange jumper now as he gently stroked her hair in a comforting manner. It continued on for twenty minutes before the teen calmed down enough to let go. Naruto still held onto her for another minute before sitting down next to her.

"Thank you." She eventually said in barely a whisper. Naruto would not have heard it if not for the fact he was focusing on her as strongly as he had.

"You're welcome" He said giving her arm a pat and a comforting stroke. She smiled a bit as he tried, and succeeded, in comforting her.

"I can't believe I was comforted by a gaki." Naruto chuckled a bit by that. He knew that he was not the typical type of person to be proving emotional help. That was an adults job after all.

"Mitarashi Anko." She stated. Naruto looked at her for a second before he realised she was introducing herself.

"Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto." he replied as he put out a hand. She looked at it for only a second before she reached out her own hand and shook it.

"Nice to meet you." They both said at the same time, causing their smiles to broaden. Sitting back into a comfortable silence they both looked at the stars above Konoha. Naruto would have stayed there all night if need be however he had a cut off time which he was quickly approaching.

Opting to break the silence Naruto asked her the question that had nagged him since he saw her crying.

"Why were you crying?" He asked without looking at her. He made sure not to put anything that could be perceived as pressurising in his voice to ensure her comfort. She was silent for a minute, which he respected, before she began to speak.

"The villagers, um, they... I was the student of Orochimaru who um..." She looked very uncomfortable and was visibly struggling to get her sentences. She was also obviously afraid. She probably thought Naruto didn't realise who she was, which he didn't at the time, and would hate her as well for being related to the traitor, which he also didn't.

"The villagers project the traitor Orochimaru onto you and look at you with hate because you are associated to him." He said calmly. He knew who Orochimaru was and what he had done. He didn't read through the Library five times and have an ANBU for a teacher for nothing. It was at this that she tensed and seemed to withdraw into her shell.

"Complete assholes aren't they?" Naruto asked in a conversational manner. Anko's head shot up, partially because of the fact he, a six year old, had sworn but mostly of the fact he didn't care about Orochimaru being her sensei.

"I mean what did Mitarashi Anko ever do to them?" He asked her with a kind smile of his face. Anko just stared at him for a moment before smiling and crying again.

"Thank you. " She said as she struggled to control her happy tears.

"Baka." Naruto said with a loving smile and tone. "I have done nothing which needs thanking for." He reassured her as he stood up and hugged her again.

...Four weeks later...

"NARUTO!" Anko shouted as she ran into the training ground before glomping the poor/lucky young blonde into a crushing hug.

"Anko-chan!" Naruto responded through her budding breasts, not reacting to the sudden action as he had gotten used to the purplette's eccentric behaviour. Though she was distracting him from the little Garden he had made to the side.

Following Yamato's advice Naruto had taken up gardening and was currently growing a few flowers. It was actually rather nice, though they only required a few hours of attention a week. It made relieving his boredom difficult when the only thing he could really do with his plants was watch them grow.

On the other hand he had decided to take up another art. Cooking. He had actually asked Ayame-Onee-san for tutoring, which she happily provided. Because she had work during the day she would teach Naruto after the store closed and during his lunch breaks when he was allowed to eat Ramen by Yamato. Outside of those times he mostly taught himself.

It actually turned out he had a bit of talent as a cook. He had only made cakes, a few bowls of ramen and some other simple dishes but he was actually making decent progress. His imagination helped in developing the foods he could make, though he still wasn't anywhere near as good as the Ichirakus.

He was currently working on Dango, something he knew Anko-chan liked, however his few attempts were less than satisfactory. He currently had a couple of clones working on his Ramen and Dango skills, which he normally wouldn't do most of the time as he wanted it to be done by his own hands, in order to satisfy two of the things he loves. Anko didn't know he was doing this though.

Back to present though.

"How are you Anko-chan." Naruto asked as he was finally released after his spine was cracked.

"F~ine." She said cheerily. "Though that guy I was talking about the other day tried to make a move on me. But I managed to get him to back off by kicked the perv in the balls." She said as if discussing the weather.

Naruto didn't sympathise with the guy in the slightest and it showed in his smirk. However he still flinched internally at the prospect of her going for a man's Family Jewels. Prick the guy may be but ball shots are always low blows (Pun intended). He just hoped he never elicited that kind of response from a girl, or at least became fast enough to dodge first. Maybe that was why the Yondaime was so fast?

"Nice." Naruto said. He didn't think it was that nice however it was still good that the guy would be... er ... inoperable for the new few days. Anko just gave a cheeky grin in response.

Anko still remembered the first couple of weeks of their budding friendship. She had naturally tried to place herself in the dominating role, as she was older and more mature *COUGH* bullshit *COUGH*. This however was quickly destroyed.

On the second week since their relationship began Anko had found herself at a gathering of Chunin and Jonin who where they assigned certain duties to perform, such as patrols, guarding, courier duty etc. There she had to sit for over two hours all while suffering the glares and insults tossed at and around her.

She bore it like a soldier. Until she managed to get out when she had promptly run to Naruto for comfort. He had thankfully been in his apartment experimenting with a cake mix when she had come in looking as if someone had killed her puppy (It's very painful, believe me).

The next hour of him comforting her as she cried had essentially destroyed any hope she had of being the stronger of the two in the relationship. Not that she minded really. While it was weird the experience made her more than happy to consider Naruto as an equal.

"Still working on that Garden?" She asked. She didn't really much care for gardening however she liked the results, and she had to admit his flowers looked very vibrant.

"Yeah it looks great doesn't it?" He asked expectantly.

"Un." she mumbled positively, making Naruto happy that his flowers were appreciated.

"How did you do that anyway? None of the other flowers look this... bright." She asked curiously. Naruto smiled knowingly.

"I put some of my Chakra into them." He said with a smirk. Anko blinked. Chakra can do that?

"How does that work?" She asked. Naruto nodded understandingly as normal Chakra could not do that.

"Well you know how I told you my Chakra was like the Medical Chakra right?" Naruto inquired. Getting a nod he began his explanation.

"Normal Chakra can't really do this however my Chakra is unique and has beneficial properties and heals my injuries. So I thought 'maybe it has effects on other things'. So I tried it on my plants." He finished, rather pleased with his deduction which had proved to be dead-on.

Anko was actually a bit awed by this ability as it would mean he was essentially a walking healing station. She then became curious. She was not a medic-nin herself however she had learnt about Iryojutsu during her time with Orochimaru. Aside from the properties of Medical Chakra you also had to guide the chakra to the correct places or it would do nothing.

Feeling a bit adventurous she decided to experiment. Pulling out her Kunai she made a reasonably sized cut on her hand, causing the unsuspecting Blonde to freak out.

"ANKO WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Naruto yelled in shock. Ignoring him until she was done she then presented the cut hand to him.

"Put your Chakra into it." She said. Naruto hesitantly reach out his hand and took it.

"Small amounts." She advised quickly. It was NOT a good idea to let Naruto run rampant with his colossal Chakra, especially considering he was in a bit of a panic right now.

Naruto nodded as acknowledgement before pouring the smallest amount of Chakra he could manage into her hand. He them jumped when Anko suddenly jerked and gasped. He looked into her face in surprise only to find her eyes closed and her face into a blissful expression before she did a full body blush and clamped her legs together, severely confusing Naruto.

"Are- are you alright?" Naruto asked in concern. This caused the blush in her face to deepen before she game a stuttering reply.

"Ye- yes I'm - uh- I'm fine." She said hastily. She was still very red and she was rubbing her legs together for some reason. (Yamato made sure Naruto did NOT go into the adult section.)

"Um I would recommend you talk to your onii-chan about this before you try to experiment any further." She said, which only further confused Naruto.

"O-Ok, ah how's your hand." He asked as his concern grew a bit as he remembered what they were originally doing.

Looking down at her hand he was happy to find that the bleeding had stopped and it was slowly healing. He let out a sigh of relief and was about to further question Anko when she suddenly stood up.

"I just realised I have something to do. Talk to you later 'k?" She asked before swiftly leaving the clearing and a clueless Naruto.

"What the hell just happened?"

...

Naruto was confused for some time after, namely five years. But enough of breaking the time barrier.

...Two weeks later...

It had been a dark day in Konoha these last two weeks and for once it wasn't Naruto's fault. If anything it was despite of Naruto that it had been dark. The reason for this? Because Uchiha Itachi had just annihilated the entire Uchiha clan leaving only one single person alive. His sister: Uchiha Satsuki.

Naruto, despite the fact most Uchiha were assholes, had done a number of memorial pieces dedicated to the all but extinct clan. He didn't do this out of any love for the clan or simply because he wanted to do the right thing, though that was one of the two reasons. No, the reason he did it was because it was his crush's Clan.

Naruto had tried talking to Satsuki in the past and she had been mostly cordial. However she had shown no interest in him at all. This had saddened Naruto considerably however he continued to search for her attention, trying to get her to play with him even though it met with no success.

But now she had gone from mildly arrogant and distant to being a complete recluse. She rarely talked with anyone and the usual response she gave to anything was a non-committal grunt (It was the best I could come up with). Now instead of Cordial she had become vicious towards anything he said, despite his best efforts to sympathise with her.

He was not the only one. Her budding friendship with Hinata, Sakura and Ino were effectively shattered by her sudden withdrawal into herself. She no longer smiled and wore a constant scowl and eyes which dared anyone to approach her.

Naruto couldn't become her friend anymore. Any attempt at comfort and sympathy was met with disdain as she looked down at him with angry eyes. It was all that he could do to become her punching bag by constantly demanding spars out of her. He often wondered if he liked pain but each time after the a spar he became completely dissuaded by that notion.

It did help. Even though it was painful and he often had bleary eyes afterwards he could tell that she always felt better after letting out her anger and frustrations. It was not just because she was in pain that he opted to be her punching bag, oh no. It was because of the way they began to treat her. Like a damaged piece of priceless jewellery.

Most would not have noticed however Naruto had watched her and observed her secretly. He didn't stalk her of course but he paid close attention. Before the Uchiha Massacre she was the little sister of the prodigy. The unneeded second child to be the heir to the Uchiha Clan. Now she was the poster girl for Konoha. She was now 'THE' Uchiha prodigy. And it rankled her.

He couldn't blame her. Fame and prestige you didn't earn are as bad as fake compliments. You know they are not true. At some level you just know. So when you receive them it makes your blood boil as you can tell they are sucking up to you. And what's worse? They pitied her. Naruto felt annoyed when his Jiji and Onii-chan looked at him with pity. Add a few thousand random strangers and the Uchiha pride and you have one angry girl.

Naruto would protect her. Whether she knew it or not. Appreciated it or not. He would give his life for her. Because, though he did not understand why, she was precious to him.

...Two weeks later...

It was over two weeks later when Yamato returned. Naruto considered playing a special Prank for him again however there would be no scapegoat this time.

It was at this time that he met Anko. It was surprisingly cordial, considering Anko-chan. It was clear however that Yamato was delighted that Naruto had another friend in Anko. So much so that he decided, against his better judgement, to take Naruto and Anko to get their favourite food.

He regretted that later when he found out that not only had Naruto's appetite increased again but that Anko loved Dango almost as much as Naruto loved Ramen, but she was bigger than him. He left Ichiraku's that day crying tears over his empty wallet and Teuchi and Ayame giving him a look of pity.

After Anko had left Yamato sat Naruto down in his apartment to discuss his week and, aside from his interaction with Satsuki, Naruto was more than happy to tell him. Yamato was again impressed with Naruto's talent for infiltration. The percentage of success was nearly seventy five percent which, for a six year old going up against adults and ninja, was incredible.

He also voiced his approval of the new hobbies he had picked up as not only did both of them take him away from pranking a bit, and save Yamato from the Sandaime's wrath, but one of them, cooking, was actually a skill which he would find useful in live, love and long missions. Though he did not think Naruto was interested in the opposite gender yet. (Oh how wrong he is. I'm going to make Naruto a HUGE perv- uh hum I mean appreciator of the female form. *cough*).

Talking about pervyness Naruto also mentioned his experiment with Anko. While Yamato was upset that Naruto experimented on Anko he didn't mention it as Anko was the one who forced it. When Naruto described what had happened to Anko Yamato blushed and had a slight nose bleed as, unlike Naruto, Yamato **had** been introduced to the Icha-Icha books by Kakkashi-senpai.

He blushed even harder when, picking up that his onii-chan recognised what he saw, Naruto asked him what happened to her. Yamato blew it off before forbidding Naruto from using his healing Chakra on ANYONE unless it were life and death. The seriousness in his voice, which was almost ruined by the blood which he had smeared into a moustache under his nose, caused Naruto to readily agree as he knew that when his onii-chan got serious, he got serious.

...8 months later... Naruto's Birthday...

Naruto struggled with his Chakra control all this time. (Becoming a recurring theme, no?) But he managed to stand on the water without effort three weeks ago. Naruto had been ecstatic and Yamato and Hiruzen had been proud.

So much so that they pooled together over a thousand Ryo and gave it to the Ichiraku's to pay for close to two hundred bowls of Ramen for Naruto to gorge on whenever he went to Ichiraku's. It was a good present for Naruto and thanks to the limitations Yamato set upon it, i.e. only four a week, it would last for some time rather than less than ten weeks (Calculate).

Anko on the other hand bought him a set of Kunai and Shurikens. Real ones this time. The Sandaime had freaked when he had found out and was about to reprimand her had Yamato not intervened and ensured him that Naruto was mature enough and skilled enough to safely use them.

This was not because of academy education. Iruka had thankfully treated Naruto fairly and helped him when Naruto asked and when he was available. Mizuki, on the other hand, did not treat him fairly and was usually the one to teach them the physical skills, such as throwing skills. Which meant that he had shown Naruto how to throw wrong.

It took Yamato to catch him practicing to notice that he was taught wrong, he knew for a fact Naruto had better hand-eye coordination than that, and in the end he had to teach him, just liked he had feared. He was also sure that if Naruto had not already owned a set of practice kunai Mizuki would have definitely given him an unbalance set.

However the Ramen was not the only gift that Naruto received because of his success at water-walking. Yamato, having decided not to teach Naruto until he had competed that exercise, was now able to teach Naruto Elemental Manipulation.

Something he presented as a present on his birthday. (HE IS NOT A CHEAPSKATE. NARUTO LIKES THIS SORT OF STUFF AND FEEDING HIM IS EXPENSIVE!) Taking Naruto to the training ground the next day Yamato explained elemental manipulation to him.

...Day after his Birthday...

Yamato and Naruto once again stood in the training ground they had used for three years now. Now was the next stage of training. This was supposedly a Chunin exercise however Yamato and Hiruzen saw no problem with having Naruto do it as he had worked had these last few years and it was not like there had never been someone as young as him to attempt it.

"Alright Naruto." Yamato began. "I want to congratulate you again for getting this far in your training so quickly." Yamato said proudly, making the young Blonde beam with happiness.

"Now like I promised we are going to begin Elemental Manipulation. Do you know what that is?" Yamato asked. It was entirely possible after all.

"Isn't it the moulding and defining of chakra into an inherent type of chakra nature, altering its properties and characteristics?" Yamato nodded. A textbook answer. Not surprising.

"Correct. Well done. That is exactly what we are doing to now."

Taking out two small pieces of paper Yamato gave one to Naruto before he continued on.

"That piece of paper is special. It was created from a special tree and the paper allows us to determine what your chakra affinity is." Yamato informed him before he gave a confident smile.

"But it will only be determining which element we start teaching you as I will be getting you to master all of them."

This caused Naruto to go wide eyed. He had read that most Jonin only had two affinities and only a select few got all five, these including the Sandaime and the Rikudo Sennin. It would take years to learn even your affinity, let alone any other, so he would be in his late twenties, at best, before he could master all five. Then it hit him.

"_**Kage Bushin no Jutsu!**_" He exclaimed. It was obvious, even for him, that with the clones he could master ALL the elements within a year! Probably.

"Yes!" Yamato confirmed. "However we will master your affinity first. Speaking of which." Yamato held up his card for a second and focused on it before it sudden became half became wet and the other half crumbled.

"I have both Earth and water as I have the Mokuton Kekkai Genkai." Naruto just nodded as he already knew this. "The Paper shows this as when I channelled my chakra into the paper it turned damp and also turned to dust." Naruto nodded again.

"When the paper becomes damp it means you have a water affinity, turns to dust you have an earth affinity, crinkles you have a lightning affinity, burns and you have a fire affinity and finally splits in two if you have a wind affinity. Now channel your chakra into the paper."

Naruto nodded and proceeded to concentrate his Chakra, in small amounts so as not to vaporise it or something, into the piece of paper.

It... Split in two.

Yamato nodded in satisfaction before continuing.

"Alright wind it is. Now let's begin with harnessing it."

_**I'm making him so OP aren't I? **_

_**I can't help it! Kage Bushin is such a cheat ability for Naruto! It's not my fault! I bloated his Chakra control problem as much as I could but it is STILL not enough. I should have withheld the resistance seals! Then at least his physical prowess would have been dead last but... no teacher would leave his student to slack off just because they could! Woe is me!**_

_**Anyway here is a cyber cookie for those who noted my use of official and affectionate names and another one for comprehending that I meant close to canon when I said close to canon. There was no way I was going to change his affinity.**_

_**Also was the Anko-Naru moment nice? Did I do a good job? Was is heart warming? No? Yes? PLEASE LET ME KNOW! IT IS EATING AT ME!**_

_**Anyway Thanks to the people, only 2 while one was over a PM, who commented on my question about the Sub element. I had hoped for more ideas, actually I had hoped for more reviews to be honest. I really want your opinion on this guys I don't know what to do about it. I want him to have a sub element but I don't know which one. Pretty please!**_

_**Thanks and see ya later!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Yo!**_

_**FINALLY GOT TO AGE 7! Though we still have five more years until we reach canon. T.T**_

_**7 years of slowing Naruto's progress without any real just cause... I give up! This is my notice of giving up see ya, goodbye.**_

_**...**_

_**...**_

_**...**_

_**FINE I'll drag my way through it! Sigh I have no clue how to NOT make him god-like. Shadow clones are such a cheat! I should have given him the shadow clones when he was seven.**_

_**Ah I also want to thank you all for the Favs/follows. They make writing this easier as I know people and waiting on me. I also want to thank you for the reviews! I really appreciate you all commenting and I hope to continue to hear from you.**_

_**Now, sigh, on with the shooow...**_

_**P.S. Does anyone one to Beta for me? **_

_**P.P.S Shout out to Coduss for helping me with the idea for Suiton Chakra exercise and Beta-ing this chapter for me.**_

_**UPDATE: 01/02/14 **_

_**I really messed up the corrections on this one. I wanted to get it posted that night and ended up rushing it. Oh well its corrected now. I will be dedicating more time to proof-reading (why do you guys call it beta?) the chapter so It may take another day more than usual to get it all correct. **_

_**Also, while the story is virtually the same, there have been a number of corrections to the story which makes things a bit clearer and says what I actually wanted it to say. So if you liked reading the chapter then I would recommend reading it again to get the new tid bits.**_

_**Thank you for dealing with this.**_

Chapter 4

...1 year later...

There had been a lot of change in the year which followed.

Yamato had been taking more and more missions and had been spending less and time training Naruto. Not that he really needed it. It was at this point that constant repetition was required, something Naruto happily passed off to his clones for the most part.

While it is convenient the clones are still, essentially, you so they have feelings and a personality, even if it is just a copy. What is important however is that after leaving a clone to do a tedious task while you go and play a large amount of animosity ensues. Which gets absorbed back into you at the end of the day.

Imagine everyday you absorb the feelings of nearly three thousand clones who hate your guts right to the moment they dispel. Well let's just say Naruto had never been so close to suicide than the first day he had abandoned his clones to go off pranking.

He only survive because of the very reason that he had ended up in this situation. Again his shadow clones were still him and because of that they understood that getting angry at him didn't help at all. This means that when they dispelled the second day he only absorbed a mild amount of annoyance.

Since then Naruto had made damn sure to appease his clones by spending some days training with them and to make his pranking as much training as fun. It made things easier and each time they were dispelled they were less and less annoyed. Which he was thankful for because he really was verging on genuine self-hating.

Anyway his training had not gone as well as he had thought. In the end the process of learning Elemental manipulation was as difficult as Chakra control. His large reserves meant that when he recklessly poured Chakra in to Cut the leaf as he was instructed he would again vaporise the leaf.

So not only was he changing the properties of his Chakra but he also had to do it in small amounts or risk losing the leaf, and by default leaving Konoha's trees barren. It was like eating ramen with only your tongue, now chewing or anything. Yamato had been grumbling by the second week that at this rate Konoha would have to import leaves in order to supply Naruto with the means to learn elemental manipulation. Praise the Logs for shadow clones and accelerated learning(1).

Despite the fact his expectations had been completely and utterly dashed he was slightly happy that he was developing his elemental Chakras as well as going a Chakra control exercise. It was a sort of a win-win situation for him despite the difficulty of it all!

It would end up taking nearly seven months in order to perfectly cut the leaf but it was worth it.

In the mean time Naruto had put his time into other things. One of them, and most importantly it turned out, was his development in cooking. On Anko's birthday, which was 14 days after his own, he prepared a batch of Dango for her for her Birthday. She seemed to love the present as she immediately demanded that he provide Dango for her from then on.

It was a lot of pressure. Not because he didn't have the time, of course he had shadow clones after all. It was the fact she had been on his back constantly giving advice and demands about how he should make her Dango.

It was quite irritating as this was pretty much a gift to her out of his own kindness and she was demanding he do everything her way instead of trusting him. He had heard about men who were ruled by their wives or sisters(2), etc, but he was not suffering it.

He put his foot down. Threatening to stop making Dango for her ever again. She had backed down quickly. Naruto relented slightly, as he was doing this for her anyways, and told Anko she could be a food taster and comment on the food, but only when he was asking for her input. She had readily agreed.

Despite her complaints Anko would not risk losing her Naru-kun's Dango, which was now on par with the place she used to eat at. Plus she felt a slight thrill at how Naruto had put his foot down. She didn't understand why, she is usually the sadistic one after all, so she ignored it for now.

Anko also stopped being one of the only two women in his life. Though he wondered if he could really call next one a woman at this point. Anyway it happened like this:

...In the forest. Sometime after his Birthday...

Naruto was taking a walk around the forest after school. His school experience wasn't going very well. It never did however he was just allowing himself to feel particularly down about it today.

His written tests had not been inspiring. While he did well in some aspects like History and Chakra theory he was barely average in maths and other thinking subjects. Knowing an answer is not the same as understanding it after all.

He still didn't understand all the questions despite his best efforts and renewed excursions into the library. He was sure he screwed up some of the questions he should have gotten. Maybe it was nerves? Who was he kidding he didn't get nerves.

Well aside from that he had really been struggling with the Academy basics:

The regular bushin was a waste of time. Yamato had said so from the start however he was instructed not to show off his abilities in the academy so he couldn't just make a shadow clone instead.

The Henge was difficult. He couldn't find the right amount of chakra to use it. It was like he wasn't doing it right or that it was impossible. However it was way too useful to be ignored and discarded, plus it was one of the things you were required to do in order to pass.

Kawamiri was less so. It seemed it didn't really matter how much Chakra you put into it as it worked regardless, though the distance you could travel changed drastically. Naruto had managed to get to the other side of Konoha by substituting with a flower. He also found he could substitute with people.

While this wasn't a big deal as everyone with enough chakra could. However what was amazing was that he could use ANYONE as a substitute. For someone to use the Kawamiri you had to reach out with your chakra, usually to a nearby object, and coat it in chakra which allows you to pinpoint your substitution.

However this works because the object has little to no chakra or will. If you were to use it on a Shinobi they would notice the chakra instantly and it would require an effortless chakra surge to dispel the average Chakra. Naruto's chakra was far larger and denser than normal Chakra though. This meant you would have to do a major flare to break the technique which would take time which they would not have.

This was awesome because when facing multiple opponents he could get them to attack their fellows with their own techniques. The downside was also the reason it was possible. Large amounts of Chakra like his were difficult to move and the density made it sluggish outside his Chakra network. Therefore in order to do what he wanted with it to it needed to begin before the attack began for strong substitutes.

That was probably one of the only good things that happened during his time in the Academy.

The other was his friends: Shikamaru and Choji. If Naruto was honest he would say he had really lucked out when they had introduced themselves. They were good people, though Shikamaru was so lazy he was barely friend material. Even talking was too troublesome. Choji was a bit more active and they got along well.

They often had eating contests, which Choji usually won by a decent margine. Though he was the unassailable champion of Ramen eating. In their contest Choji managed a respectable eight bowls before submitting while Naruto thrashed him with a crushing sixteen. Choji had paled as he watched Naruto eat his eleventh bowl and looked downright emasculated by the time he finished the last one.

Shikamaru actually did do more with him than cloud watching. Aside from assisting him with his prank planning, when asked, he also played Shogi with him. Naruto, while being able to plan excellent pranks, was not a grand strategist. He however had read a number of books on Shogi and had developed a bit of tactical mind after reading a number of strategies employed by famous Shinobi tacticians.

This of course meant that, while he never won, he pushed Shikamaru fairly hard and made it difficult for the lazy Nara not to pay attention for any surprise manoeuvres, which Naruto was becoming infamous for. The closest to winning Naruto had ever gotten was when Shikamaru had decided to test a theory and offered Naruto all the Ramen he could eat if he won.

True to his expectations Naruto seriously upped his game and what was a simple friendly game became a desperate struggle for dominance. Naruto had actually managed to corner Shikamaru's king in a stroke of luck; before he was checkmated when Naruto slipped up in his rush for victory.

Both Shikamaru and Choji vowed NEVER to bet with Naruto and definitely not when it involved Ramen. It was just not worth it.

Aside from that however things were not going well.

As the last Uchiha, and a supposed prodigy, Satsuki had gained a fan base consisting of both boys and girls. Being part of a Clan and having Clan teaching to draw upon Satsuki naturally excelled and was number 1 in the academy. However all this attention on her made things more difficult for him to help her.

Even though all he could do was be her punching bag even then Naruto's attempts were made even harder by the screeching and insults thrown his way by her growing Fan base, including a certain pink haired girl. His attempts to challenge her were often intercepted by some of the boys, whom he subtly knocked out, and the girls screeching for him to, quote, "Leave her alone, loser Baka!" also made his challenges hard for Satsuki to hear.

How she was not deaf with fan-girls was a miracle in his eyes. Naruto never let that stop him and, as she was actually secretly grateful the 'loser' was 'unwittingly' becoming her personal punching bag, Satsuki was always more than keen to beat him up. (3)

There was a silver lining though. Satsuki was looking a bit better. She still scowled and looked at her fans with disdain however her eyes had gained a bit more life and her demeanour was less withdrawn.

He smiled slightly at that. He was unsure if it was because of his actions or not but was satisfied that she was recovering, if only slowly.

Naruto's thought were broken upon noticing some people talking and a rather scared voice mixed in. Curious and slightly concerned Naruto went towards the noise to see what was going on to find one of his classmates, Hyuuga Hinata he believed, on the ground as two older kids from the Academy called her names, saying she was weak and had weird eyes.

Both of these things pissed him off. He didn't like people calling others weak, regardless of whether it was true or not, and he was enraged by them calling her eyes weird. He had always thought her lavender eyes were very pretty.

Determined to teach them a lesson Naruto stepped out.

"That's not true you stupid bastards! Get lost or I'll kick your ass!" Naruto shouted angrily.

Everyone turned their attention to him when he shouted, displaying a mix of reactions. The Bullies had a combination of fear, arrogance and anger at his declaration. Hinata showed shock, surprise and... hope? It didn't really matter to Naruto what they were thinking.

"Big talk ya little bastard! Who the fuck are you anyway?" The biggest and angry looking one asked.

"Uzumaki Naruto. The future Hokage!" Naruto declared proudly for the seven thousandth time. The bullies blinked at him before bursting out laughing.

"Ah I know you! You're that wimp that constantly gets his ass kicked by a girl. Pfft, there is no way a stupid weakling like you will ever become Hokage. Why, you are barely worthy to be my punching bag." Said the arrogant one.

"I will become Hokage." Naruto declared again, this time exuding great confidence and self-assurance, as if it were turly not a question of 'if' but 'when'.

Unknown to Naruto his words struck a chord in the Hyuuga heiress. The confidence the absolute belief that he would succeed, that he would never fail. She had never had that and she felt envious of him. But more than anything else she felt inspired.

"Stop delud-" Began the arrogant one again. Right before Naruto's fist connected with his face, knocking him unconscious. Before the others could react Naruto was already attacking the weak fearful one with a kick to the stomach. By the time it had taken to retract his leg the largest of the Bullies had managed to rush him and was in the process of trying to grapple him, which he easily dodged.

With a spin he slammed his foot into the last bullies' head in a reverse round house kick, resulting in him to fall to the ground out cold. This left a satisfied Naruto and a shocked and awed Hinata. Naruto turned his attention to Hinata before giving her a warm smile.

"Are you alright?" He asked gently as he leaned in. Hinata suddenly blushed at she realised that her saviour was talking to her, and was so close too!

"Um I'm -I'm fine. Thank you." She said as Naruto helped lift her to her feet, making her blush deepen.

"No problem. I could never have abandoned you so don't worry about it." He reassured giving her one of his genuine happy smiles(4). Hinata was now suffering from a full blown blush at the smile she was seeing as her cheek muscles forced her to make a shy smile of her own.

The moment was interrupted by the arrival of the neglectful and useless bodyguard.

"Hinata-sama!" exclaimed the bodyguard. Surging forward he grabbed the girls hand and began to lead her away.

"Hinata-sama don't interact with that boy from now on understand? He is dangerous!" The bodyguard demanded.

Hinata however was not paying much attention to her bodyguard. She was watching her saviour as he watched her be dragged away waving with a smile on his face. But this was nothing like his other smiles. It was not warm, let alone genuine. It was... forced. He was hiding his pain from her.

Hinata wanted to cry. Not only had Naruto-kun saved her but he was being treated like a criminal for some reason that was never explained. Now he was trying to make her feel better by trying to make it seem as if all was well and he didn't mind.

Hinata was building up her courage to confront her bodyguard however before she could she was already out of sight. With the loss of the source of her courage gone her will weakened again, leaving her to curse her own weakness.

Naruto had stayed in the same spot as he waved her off. When she was out of sight he dropped the mask and allowed himself to show his depression at the bodyguards words and actions.

"_What did I do to be treated like a monster?_" Naruto thought to himself.

He had waited long enough. He had been postponing asking for years in the belief and trust that his Jiji or onii-chan would tell him. But he couldn't wait anymore. He needed to know.

...Hokage's office...

Hiruzen was once more working on the paperwork that was on his desk. He was eternally grateful that the work load had been decreasing over the years, minus Naruto's 'Month of Terror', and he was able to move around without coming back to a desk piled high with paper.

This was only comforting when put into context as there was still a significant amount of paperwork to do every day and, if left alone, it would slowly build up to a near unmanageable levels.

"_My enemy is weakened but I have yet to defeat it yet!_" Hiruzen plotted in his mind.

"_I must chase it to the ends of the earth if need be, but I must not turn my back! For even a second of relief will be more than enough for it to crush me!_" The possibly insane Hokage growled in thought.

It had been a long seven years for the Hokage. The grief of losing his wife and Orochimaru, the devastation of the village and the resulting paperwork, the revelation about Naruto's neglect and then finally the paperwork that Naruto's pranking had generated. Hiruzen was tired. His time was supposed to have ended when the Yondaime took over so that he could rest and die in peace.

It was not to be however and now he was resigned to die under a pile of paperwork. There was simply no one else to take the position. The only Ninja of the village who would have been able to take his place were: Orochimaru, Tsunade, Danzo and Jiraiya.

Orochimaru was obviously out as he was a Nuke-nin and his ideals are far from being beneficial to the village. Danzo was the same. His ideas were dangerous and a violation of the Sho and Niidaime's ideas. His ROOT's, which Hiruzen suspected to still be activate despite being ordered to disband, training methods were brutal and inhumane as they went as far as to shred the subject of their emotions and pit friends and brothers against each other.

Tsunade was a long shot. She would be good for the village if she were to curb her gambling and drinking. The changes she made to the Village in establishing and developing the Medic Corp were noteworthy. Add the fact she was a Senju and you had someone the Village would instantly and completely accept.

The problem resided in the trauma she had developed towards the position. Having lost the people she loved to the position, whether they were in office of striving for it, she had grown to hate the position and the village they served, which she believed was to blame for her loss. He couldn't honestly say she was completely wrong either.

Jiraiya was the best candidate in the list. He was powerful enough and he had strongly inherited the will of fire and love for the village. However Jiraiya had developed a spy network which only he knew the full extent of. He also was too free and a complete pervert to boot. Hiruzen had had nightmares, after first considering him, of the chaos that would unfold as his student tried to dictate the Kunoichi dress code and make peeping legal.

Even if Hiruzen asked Jiraiya would quickly refuse, which left him without a sucessor. He had looked upon the newer generations, as he had done with the Yondaime, and had only found Kakkashi to have any of the qualities needed to be Hokage. There were unfortunately problems with him too.

Unlike other candidates he was not S-class. This meant he had to become much stronger before he could be considered. However that was just the tip of the iceberg. While he had also inherited the will of fire he was lazy and always late to meetings. Worst of all he was in a state of constant mourning over the loss of his teammates and sensei. Until he got out of his little hole Hiruzen couldn't nominate him as his replacement.

So it seemed that poor Sarutobi had to stay in his position until Naruto became old enough for the responsibility to be dropped onto him. The Sandaime just hoped he lasted that long.

Speaking of the prankster.

Hiruzen looked up to hear a knock on the door. Glad for a distraction Hiruzen called the person in to reveal a little blonde boy wearing an orange t-shirt and blue shorts.

"Naruto-kun how are you?" Hiruzen asked cheerily. His merriness stopped when he saw the sad, but determined look on Naruto's face. Becoming serious himself Sarutobi signalled his Anbu to leave before telling Naruto to sit with him.

"What is wrong Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen asked his surrogate Grandson, concern lacing his voice as he spoke softly.

"Why does the village hate me?" Naruto asked pleadingly. The Sandaime blinked at the question before he became very serious.

Naruto had never asked this question before. Hiruzen had believed he was content with the fact that he had people who loved and cared for him and he was able to look past and ignore it. It seemed he had merely been bottling it up and was merely trusting them to give him the answer of their own volition.

Hiruzen sighed at this revelation. He felt slightly happy that Naruto had trusted them enough to withhold his questions as long as he had but it also meant that their relationship hanged upon what was said next. The frustration he had experienced, after being so patient, could easily cause him to lash out and destroy the bond of trust that they had painstakingly forged. He couldn't leave him empty handed.

"I can't tell you yet. It is too dangerous." Hiruzen said which Naruto to clench his fists and look away from him.

"But I promise you that I will tell you everything you want to know when you become a Chunin." Hiruzen promised quickly. This caused Naruto to look at him again with a look of hope and curiosity.

"Why so long?" Naruto inquired quietly.

"This secret is dangerous and could get you in trouble should it be carelessly leaked. I am not saying you would blab it about." Hiruzen swiftly assured, silencing the protest which was on the lips of the small blonde.

"You are still young and you have yet to be trained in keeping secrets and controlling your emotions." Hiruzen explained, causing Naruto to nod reluctantly.

"You promised. You won't break it right?" Naruto asked cautiously. Hiruzen gave a reassuring smile.

"Of course Naruto-kun. I will keep my promise I assure you. One way or another." He said as he patted the boy on the head. Looking at the clock he noticed it was lunch time.

"So Naruto-kun, how do you feel about going to get some Lunch at Ichiraku's" Hiruzen asked, making Naruto's face light up with a smile before he began shouting happily like normal.

"YES!" Naruto shouted before shooting out the room causing the old Sarutobi to chuckle as he stood up and followed him out, paperwork blissfully forgotten.

...

Naruto didn't ask again. Nor did he mention anything to Yamato, though Hiruzen did. Instead focused upon his training and learning the Academy basics.

He had, unfortunately, had to pull a few hundred clones off of his Nature transformation/ Chakra control training in order to make some headway in his Henge training six months into the training. It was not a massive deal as it seemed he was getting close to succeeding but it would slow down his training again. Needless to say the progress was very slow.

As he predicted he finally attained a success the next day when his leaf had a small cut in it. Naruto was understandably ecstatic about it and he and his clones pushed forward hard to completely cut the leaf, which they managed, all of them, within a week after the first sign.

After Yamato returned from his mission the following week his Onii-chan constructed several large waterfalls for Naruto to practice the next phase of Nature Manipulation. The changing of the properties of large quantities of Chakra which was tested by Naruto's ability to cut the waterfall.

In the end it took two additional months, however, despite the fact the number of clones he could use was limited by the size of the waterfall, Naruto no longer had to hold back all his chakra just to use the leaf. Therefore able to complete the large scale Chakra control exercises without much difficulty.

He did not start his other elemental training however, as his onii-chan had yet to inform him how they worked and he would not return from his mission tuntil a week before his Birthday at best, so he decided to set his clones on doing other Chakra control exercises to combat his ever growing Chakra reserves.

...

_**A/N : I am sick and tired of forcing myself to do every year. So what I am going to do is just do an overview of the next four to five years. I will be going under the assumption that the graduation has been set to thirteen due to the long period of peace.**_

_**Don't like it? You try to make an interesting story without making the main a god in human flesh while he can learn and develop skills five thousand times faster than Normal. **_

...5 years later...

The progress in his abilities had been both slow and massive over the last five years.

After nearly a year of practice Naruto had given up on doing a normal Henge. He had been having this feeling for a while now and it had only grown as he went on. He couldn't do a Henge like the way they teach it.

Henge is a combination of genjutsu and ninjutsu to turn you into an object of your choice. However it was impossible for him to use Genjutsu with his Chakra control the way it was. However Naruto refused to believe it was impossible. It was too cool to not know and it would be so useful for his prank- MISSIONS. He meant missions. *Cough*.

Anyway this lead Naruto to experiment. The answer was actually quite simple. Instead of using hand signs to mould his Chakra Naruto sent Chakra throughout his body before focusing on an image, like an eagle, and forcing that image into his Chakra.

The results were painful. As soon as he started his entire body was wracked with mind crushing pain. It was all Naruto could do not to scream as his body collapsed to the ground in agony. He didn't know how long he writhed on the ground. A second, an eternity? He couldn't tell. But it did end and when it did he was in for a shock.

Once the pain passed Naruto opened his eyes to find that he was on the ground. When he tried to get up he found that his arms felt weird and couldn't push off the ground. Feeling strong enough Naruto proceeded to roll while bringing his feet under his so he arrived on his feet. That's when things got weird.

Everything was bigger. The trees, the rocks, even the grass. Fearing the worst Naruto looked down at himself to see that he was wearing golden feathers? Lifting his 'arms' and looking at them he saw he had equally golden wings and when he looked at his feet he saw that they were talons. Opening his mouth he tried to shout his surprise only for his exclamation of awe to come out as a squawk.

A little freaked about suddenly being an Eagle Naruto flared his chakra to break the Henge. Nothing happened. Now Naruto was panicking. He had no idea how to change back anymore and what was worse he couldn't even ask anyone because he could only talk like a bird!

Naruto started to take deep breathes as he struggled for calm. If he could get into this situation he sure as hell could get out of it! Thinking for a moment Naruto had a rudimentary idea of what he had done. What he had done was probably the closest thing to a true transformation(5). Regardless of what he had done he got the feeling it could have gone very badly. As to what way?... Well, with an actual true transformation there probably been a reduction in his brain capacity to equal that of a bird. Then he would be screwed.

As it was it occurred to him that if he reversed the process and thought about being himself instead of a bird it might change him back. Hopefully. There was also the distinct possibility that he would change everything back to almost the way it was but get his eyes wrong or something.

Thankfully when he willed himself to go back to normal, after suffering through the pain again, he did in fact return to normal. He actually rushed home to check his photos before double checking with Ayame onee-chan to ensure everything was in order.

Thankfully everything was. Something had obviously back-upped his original form which he could return to at will and without effort.(6) Whatever it was he was grateful for it as he would hate to have to fix his body by searching out every single mole and scratch on his entire body.

After he had been reassured he COULD change back he turned back into the Eagle. This time he was prepared, but not ready, for the pain that came from the transformation so he was able to avoid collapsing, but he was panting and tired at the end of it.

One again a bird Naruto decided to try to fly! Only to crash onto his face when he messed up the wing movement. Realising that flying actually takes some skill Naruto created a dozen clones, thankful that he didn't need handseals to do it. Unfortunately they appeared as regular Narutos which meant they all had to 'Henge', or as he was thinking of calling it "Fuhen Henge no Jutsu"(7).

This displayed more problems as only half of them survived the process while the rest dispelled mid transformation. It was clear that Naruto would have to either build pain tolerance or find a way around the pain. He expected it would be the former. Though he still dreamed.

Despite the problems which occurred Naruto was still able to use the few clones he had to be able to fly. And what an experience! Naruto had only been able to overlook the village when he had climbed the Hokage Monument and now he could look down on the village from every angle imaginable.

He got so caught up in it Naruto didn't notice the time pass as soared above Konoha, causing him to miss a meal when the sun began to fall below the horizon. It was worth it though to watch the sun set from a thousand metres in the air.

He actually got so absorbed he only stopped when started receiving memories from his clones, causing him to rush to his apartment and Henge back so he could meditate as the memories of nearly 3 thousands clones dumped nine hours of memories each on him.

That was another thing which had changed over the years. Thankfully it seemed his brain had become more powerful; or his chakra or something had adapted it to take in large quantities of information and memorise things more quickly as his headaches were not as massive as they used to be and he was able to stay conscious after the full memory dump.

This did not mean to say that he was learning quicker or that he intended to use more clones, no way. It merely meant that Naruto was not dreading the evening meditation session every day anymore.

The Elemental Manipulation training was also going well. As he learnt the general rules of learning how to gain an element, and as he became more adept at controlling his Chakra effortlessly, Naruto had made good progress.

After he had completed his Futon training Yamato assisted him in his Suiton and Doton training respecively, seeing as he was a user of both those elements. They had been even harder than Futon to learn and master as he still have to multitask when using his chakra, which was a total pain, as well as the fact these were not his natural affinities like Futon was. However he did manage to master both of them.

For both the initial elementals training he had to use a leaf to, for Suiton, make it wet or, for Doton, turn it to dust. However the training to develop it further differed from there. To develop his Suiton he was tasked with using water Chakra to make a water sprout by manipulating the water; while to develop Doton he needed to be able to effortlessly shape the earth into various objects using just his chakra.

Katon followed and Naruto suffered the same problems, however Naruto noticed a pattern in the last three and decided to research the elements to find out their properties of each before he began with Katon.

When he started his Katon training he applied the knowledge he had about fire to his manipulation of his Chakra and was pleased to find that he progressed slightly faster. Add the fact that Naruto was becoming more adept at multitasking and his Chakra control was becoming more advanced it became much quicker to master Katon than the previous elements.

The advanced stage, like the others, was different for Katon however it was very similar to the previous stage where Naruto had to superheat a boulder fast enough and high enough to cause it to crack.

The Speed aspect was a bit difficult however the act of superheating was no issue and he was able to effortlessly bring the rock up to near melting temperatures, after ten minutes. Speed turned out to be the most difficult bit and he struggled to understand why he had to achieve it at first.

It was so you weren't chocking on flames when you used the Jutsu. Fire techniques were usually done orally, more so than most natures, so you didn't want the fire to stick around in your throat any longer than absolutely necessary.

Finally only Raiton remained. The advanced stage of Lightning manipulation required Naruto to channel a large burst of Lightning chakra into the ground until the ground around him cracked and wrinkled. This was in some ways similar to how the wind advanced stage worked as it took a lot to do a significant enough amount of lightning chakra to crack the earth like was demanded.(8)

Once he was done Naruto immediately demanded to learn some new Jutsu! Yamato had promptly shot him down. He claimed that Naruto still had to have a teacher when he became a Genin and it would be best to let him have a chance of teaching him something.

Naruto was a bit upset about it, however he perked up when Yamato added that they would still try to apply his elements to the various abilities his Chakra afforded him for the last remaining year before he could graduate from the academy. However he would do most of this with minimal assistance of Kage Bushins due to the following reasons.

Naruto's Chakra control had advanced with his Nature manipulation and he was able to control his Chakra more naturally than before. This however only served to get him ahead of the game. Despite the fact that he was using thousands of clones to combat his beyond-human level Chakra reserves his progress in getting it under control was becoming slower and slower.

Yamato had been worried about this for some time however he had hoped he was wrong. Naruto's chakra reserves were now in their true growth period upon reaching puberty. As it was the point of major growth of the body Naruto's Yang Chakra, at least more so than his Yin Chakra, was increasing at a terrifying rate and was gaining on Naruto's rate of Chakra control learning speed(9).

This essentially permanently tied down nearly all of Naruto's Clones capacity to solely Chakra control as any reduction in clones made the available gap shorter. So Naruto fell upon old, tried and true methods. If at first you don't succeed? Try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try again.

Old methods suck. He didn't quite realise how dependent upon he was upon Shadow Clones until that moment when he tried to create more clones after emptying the tank on the Control brigade. It annoyed him that he was so reliant upon Shadow clones to do everything. So he endeavoured to try to be a bit more independent. So he spent the last year experimenting with his Chakra.

That is not to say that was the only thing he learnt. While it was interesting Yamato insisted that Naruto only experiment while he was there, which thankfully was more often that year as Yamato didn't want to neglect Naruto's training now that he was actually at a stage where he needed a teacher.

Naruto, having always been intrigued by it since one was placed upon him, asked Yamato to teach him Fuinjutsu. It had, for the first eleven years, been a resounding _no_. However two years ago after Naruto asked for it as a Birthday present, something he had also never done before, Yamato broke and began teaching Naruto Fuinjutsu.

Or at least gave Naruto the means to learn. While he, and a number of other Jonin and ANBU, were adept at Fuinjutsu he was by no means someone capable to teaching another. Therefore he acquired a teaching scroll that was retrieved from Uzushiogakure which had been used to teach the Uzumaki children during war.

It was extremely precious to the Village as both a relic of their former ally and as a vital preserver and teacher of Fuinjutsu, a dying art. However Yamato and Hiruzen believed that, despite its value, it belonged to Naruto anyway as he was one of the very last Uzumaki.

When Naruto began learning from it was clear he had finally found his talent. It had often confounded Hiruzen how someone who was the son of the Yondaime, a genius, could be _that thick_. It seemed that despite inheriting his father's body Naruto had undoubtedly inherited the Uzumaki mind and heart.

He had already assumed so as his personality was an almost exact replica of his mothers but this just sealed the deal. In actuality he had inherited both his parents' talent for Fuinjutsu.

As he could spare them the first year he placed a number of clones to learn and perfect his calligraphy and after learn to perfection the various seals sealed within the scrolls in the teaching scroll (_**Dizzy . **_). Thanks to this by the time he had to dedicate all clones he had to Chakra control he was already well into intermediate levels.

As you would predict even with his immense talent his progress dropped significantly with the loss of his Clones and the limited amount of time he could bring to bear to progress through the scroll.

Yamato still kept Naruto's physical training on the back burner for the five years that they were doing Nature manipulation. Not increasing his seals or imposing a training regimen for his muscles. This however didn't mean that Naruto was inactive. Every day he would spend three hours in the morning and evening running around and punching trees at the training ground to increase his power and speed.

Also after he got to a decent level in Fuinjutsu he learnt how to manipulate the Resistance seal in order to up him training, though the first time he did it he put far too much Chakra into it which essentially made him a statue who couldn't move of his own volition. He actually had to wait two days for his Jiji to get worried and go and find him before he was released

Naruto didn't mind going slow though as he was enjoying developing his hobbies, which was what Yamato had intended and hoped for. Speaking of.

Naruto had developed into a wonderful cook in the years since he first gave Anko that Dango. So much so that he had prepared a three different levels of Dango: regular Dango which was merely delicious, treats which were so good they were only given when he felt Anko had earned it or he wanted to bribe her; and finally _**Special Occasion Dango**_.

This he created by conditioning the dough with a minute amount of his chakra to bring out the flavour and cause feelings of pleasure while eating and digesting the food. The ''special occasion Dango" really was only for special occasions as it was almost illegal in how powerful it was when someone, especially a Dango addict like Anko, ate it.(10)

It was also very nutritious and the Chakra, as it was Medical Chakra, in it acted like a blood or soldier pill, healing and reenergising the one to eat it.

He had come up with the idea when he had finally managed to get his hands on a certain orange book a year ago after finally being able to steal it from a certain silver head, which will be mentioned next chapter.

After reading through the book Naruto managed to, slowly, connect the dots and realised what he had managed to do to Anko when he had put his Chakra into her, and why his onii-chan had ordered him never to do it again.

Needless to say he was very embarrassed. Everyone could tell from the huge blush that was on his face and the fact that he couldn't look Anko in the eye for an entire day, thankfully one of her busy days otherwise she would have asked why.

Aside from that his repertoire of recipes and methods of cooking had increased dramatically and, on Yamato's behest, Naruto had made recipes which could be made in the field that were both tasty and, more importantly, highly nutritious which could be made in almost all circumstances.

This had required some outdoor camping in order to fully understand a field cooking's limitations however he had managed that too over time.

He had also made huge leaps and strides with his Ramen, even reaching the point where he rivalled the Ichiraku's Ramen. However regardless of what he did it never actually reached the same level. When he asked what he was doing wrong Teuchi simply replies that the Ichiraku Ramen Recipe was a secret which could and would never be revealed.

Naruto had accepted this as it was their shop and he didn't want to stop eating there anyway. Despite the fact the cost of making ramen was cheaper than buying it Naruto really like the Ichirakus. Both of them were like family to him and he was more than happy to pay for their ramen regardless of how much more expensive it was.

Naruto had also increased the size of his Garden several fold and was a earning a bit of money as being a small time supplier of flowers for the Yamanaka flower shop. It had happened when Yamanaka Inoichi had been on a walk through the training grounds that he stumbled upon Naruto expanding upon his flowerbed.

Inoichi had been impressed with the beauty and vibrancy that Naruto's flowers possessed and had asked for his secret. Naruto had told him and explained about his Chakra to do so. Sad that he would be unable to achieve the same result the Naruto's fellow Blonde offered to buy some of Naruto's flowers from him.

Naruto had been both surprised and reluctant to give up his flowers after he had cared for them for so long. However after talking it over with Inoichi and the reason why the Yamanaka sold flowers specifically, to bring cheer and happiness into someone's life and to help mend emotional wounds, Naruto had bent and agreed to sell him his more developed flowers for a small price; on the condition they were sold to special cases.

Naruto had really been saddened to sell them off, like a parent sending their children off for the first time or a pet owner selling their recently born and raised puppies to people. It was hard and even heartbreaking however he was pleased that they might somehow help someone in some small way.

The money was not a lot as Naruto had not asked for a large price for his plants, having only sold a select few to the Yamanaka over the three years since they met, however the money had allowed him to buy more Ramen on the permitted days and buy the necessary equipment to practise his Fuinjutsu.

_**To be Continued!**_

_**(1) The Irony!**_

_**(2) I have the sister problem. Three older sisters and only one other male in my immediate family. T.T I didn't and never will take it. Neither will my Naruto. Screw being a nice husband I am not bending over backwards for a girl just because she says so.**_

_**(3) This is not an example of being whipped. He is not being commanded to do it and is doing it out of the kindness of his heart. In case you were wondering.**_

_**(4) Am I overdoing this smile? I feel as if I have made this smile to OP too. Then again his power with smiles will serve him well in the future. How? You will see.**_

_**(5) Think of it like a more powerful version of Tsunade's Henge or an easier and more useful version of the 'Shadow Mirror Body Changing Method'.**_

_**(6) Think about Factory condition settings which some machines have when you want to retune a device from the start or fix a bug which has developed over time. I had originally intended to make it so that Naruto couldn't completely turn back unless he used in hown DNA in the transformation but decided it was too complicated.**_

_**(7) "Fuhen Henge no Jutsu" means "Permanent Transformation Technique" or "Indestructable Transformation Technique" etc.**_

_**(8) No one. And Valaryian means NO ONE has EVER bothered to think about how to train the other elements. Not even the god damn author. LAZY BASTARDS! I searched the entire internet, all the fanficiton I've read and even the blasted Wikia, both canon and fanon, for the answer and NOTHING. The longest part of the entire chapter was thinking up the training methods for raiton alone.**_

_**(9) Thank the Log for Puberty!... oh the irony!... Déjàvu?(1) **_

_**(10) It has no effect on Naruto.**_

_**Phew. That is most if not all of the skill stuff out of the way! I will be going more into his pastimes in the next chapter and, hopefully, will finally begin from when canon starts.**_

_**I have to admit I had hoped that I could fit all that happened in those five years into the chapter however it would have gone up to 14k workds atleast and I wasn't going to bother making a chapter that long. So make do with a slightly shorter chapter than usual.**_

_**So aside from that I have a couple of requests. You see when I asked for some help with choosing a sub element I assumed 2 things. One that it would be interesting to hear what you had to say and what you thought would be interesting and would fit Naruto's, still think canon Naruto's, style. I liked the idea of Magnetic release however it is very much a stand still element. Think Gaara here.**_

_**So I sadly could not use it as it didn't fir the Character.**_

_**The other thing was that once I knew which one I was doing I could research it and add it. This proved to be a fools errand as there is little to nothing on Sub elemtal abilities and mechanics. Which means I need help as I can't create a whole new concept and set of techniques for a sub-element.**_

_**Therefore I need some help. I have already asked someone for help however they have yet to answer. If you think you can do it I would be grateful if you could PM me with your application. If you pass I will reveal what I intend to do with the Sub element question ahead of time, as you will need to know it, so you can work on it while I write the actual story and maintain which appears to be a release every three days or so.**_

_**Anyway thank you for reading and I hope to see you back here. Ah and sorry for getting lazy the last two years. There was just nothing interesting to write.**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Now we are on the home stretch for this part of the Triathlon! All that remains is finishing off the 5 year skip. **_

_**I also have some good news and Bad news. Good news I'm now entering Canon. Bad news is I have a 2 to 3 day trip to London to assist my sister in moving house. And I will be leaving between 30 minutes and three hours. So no updates for a week. Then I will be back in regular work and will not be able to spare alot of time for writing so It may take longer than usual to write each chapter.**_

_**I actually pushed myself to complete this today. So be grateful.**_

_**Anyway Enjoy everyone and thanks for the Reviews, follows and Favs.**_

_**P.S. This has not been Beta'd so there will be errors. I will not have time to correct them now so it will have to wait. Just so you know.**_

_**UPDATE 7/02/14 : **__**PLEASE READ!**__** First I have finally updated my profile to add the pic so would everyone reading check it out because I hate pigtails and I won't have them associated with my Naruko. I have made some minor edits to make it more understandable and correct some bits which I wrote wrong. **_

_**Thank you all for your comments so far however I would appreciate it if people made more of a note on what they thought of my edit of Canon because it is very delicate for what I have planned and every piece of information will help tremendously.**_

_**Finally I am back now and will begin writting again tommorow. I don't know when the next release will be however it will probably be in by Sunday at the latest.**_

_**Cya later!**_

Chapter 5

During Naruto's time in the Academy Naruto had managed to make yet another friend. This was actually occurred between the ages of 7 and 8 however it was only cemented the following year. About six months after his seventh birthday Naruto had the pleasure to meet one Inuzuka Kiba(1).

Naruto had slowly noticed the presence of said Inuzuka just a couple months after his birthday. Until this point Kiba had been hanging with a different crowd of people, the type which messed around and actively disobeyed the teacher to make his life miserable.

However over time they began to target the other kids and bully them. At first it was small things, childish things kids did. However over time they had become unmanageable.

They would attack other students and bullied them into submission, taking their money and beating them for their own amusement. Amongst them were the ones Naruto would crush four months later. They had even tried it against Naruto once. However there was a major problem with this. For the most part Kiba had not participated, or even been present, for his 'friend's' misdoings, however he was there when they came for Naruto.

It actually surprised him that they had not come before. Though he had been absent most times and busy with his hobbies and training to be on the same paths as them, which would explain why he had managed to stay safe this long.

Kiba, as mentioned, had never really been present those times that they were bullying, and it was a testament of how little they actually liked him that they had not actively got him to participate with them.

Therefore when he watched a five on one beat down on Naruto, who still had his seal on, Kiba immediately intervened and tried to get them to stop. Naturally the idiots opted to turn on him as well. Now that it was two or three on one the odds were a lot more favourable which resulted in a crushing victory for Kiba and Naruto.

Kiba at this point didn't really care much for Naruto and had mostly only acted the way he had because of the pack mentality, seeing that they were all supposed to be allies in the future. However that was enough for Naruto to call him a friend.

After the incident Kiba was left with no friends as he was the former associate of bullies, meaning no one would approach him and he was too stubborn to try and befriend them. Naruto obviously did however Kiba, having been told to stay away from him by every adult he knew, ignored him.

This did not stop Naruto and he eventually began to wear down the barriers until Kiba, over a year later, accepted an invitation to join the 'loser trio', as they were called, to watch clouds and skip class. Eventually, and by eventually I mean over a another month, Kiba became comfortable enough that he integrated into the group, and in doing so giving them the nickname "Troublesome Foursome", actually coined by Shikamaru.

It was kind of fun teasing and antagonising the Inuzuka. Good exercise to as it took very little to push Kiba over the edge and get him to chase you. It was actually this method which allowed Naruto to break Kiba's resistance. Constantly taunting him and getting him to, unwittingly, play with him.

So Kiba became his official friend a several months after Naruto's ninth birthday. It seemed to complete the group for Naruto really. Although Shikamaru and Choji were good and fun friends they lacked the active element which Naruto had in spades.

Kiba, being a Inuzuka, was physically strong and energetic which allowed for them to get rough with each other in mock brawls and spars, as well be an excellent test dummy for Naruto's new, but more mild, traps. They were often at each other's throats however it remained playful and relaxed which allowed Shikamaru and Choji to safely find amusement from the conflicts.

Talking about traps. Naruto had seriously upped his game in pranking. After all the skills he had gained in Fuinjutsu, cooking and from his Chakra abilities Naruto had met all the requirements to be a master prankster.

His cooking skills were good for bait and distractions. Create a steaming pile of delicious Dango or cookies or even an entire meal then lace it with laxatives or put 'super hot spices' into it to create a truly amusing dash for the nearest toilet or water source. Some of which will be mysteriously out of order.

The same principal applied. Research the target to find out their favourite food and them place it somewhere visible, usually over a trap. Then when they get close BAM! Trap goes off. Paint, glue and itchy power all over them. It was here that Fuinjutsu came into play.

Before Naruto was stuck with buckets and manually setting off the trap himself. However now he could create a storage seal near the target to go off how he wanted while being tied to a secondary seal which would trigger the primary seal under certain conditions.

Thanks to this he had been able to prank Jonin and even ANBU with his traps and get away with it. It was absolutely hilarious to watch the great and mighty ANBU walk around wearing pink feathers in their hair, as they would immediately get changed, looking for traces of the target of their wrath.

Naruto was always long gone and even if they did find him they had no proof that it was him aside from the fact he was a prankster. After all someone could have been masquerading as Naruto in order to get him in trouble with the ANBU.

Glue and feathers were not the only thing that was utilised either. With the storage abilities of seals Naruto was able to seal water into them and then release them as Jutsus, usually just a simple burst of water in the victims direction, to not only get them wet but also to knock them on their ass.

Naruto also used the seals in his get away by placing them along various escape routes and then activating them when he passed them to release water, marbles, paintballs and, in some cases, Kunai.

There was also one other use of seals which went into conjuncture with the special properties of his Chakra. Namely what happens when you inject Naruto's chakra into a person.

Naruto got WAY too creeped out to use it on a guy, but he was more than happy to use it on civilian women and kunoichi in compromising conditions, such as when they were on the toilet or in restaurants or at meetings. Despite the situation they experienced his "Sotsuji Iku no Jutsu"(2) in he was sure they did not mind in the slightest, especially since he often put three times the Chakra he had used on Anko in it.

There was also his "Fuhen Henge no Jutsu" which he used liberally to infiltrate the ANBU base to paint their swords and masks pink and orange. All of them. It was absolutely hilarious watching the ANBU patrolling the village run around wearing orange and pink equipment. They had obviously tried to remove it only to find the paint was made from a new solution which they didn't have the material to absolve.

It had lasted a week before new masks could be made for all the ANBU, during which time everyone was enjoying the sight of the less than intimidating ANBU. It was probably one of his most prized pranks due to the sheer difficulty and the long last effects. Unfortunately for Naruto one of the masks had been his onii-sans which dumped him into another piñata session with Yamato ranting at him, though this one was more light-hearted.

Naruto had also perfected his latest Jutsu. "_**Orioke no Jutsu**_". This was a personal favourite of Naruto's as it turned him into a beautiful 20 year old woman. He had even given the transformation a name and personality, which he had promptly used to embarrass various men and expose perverts from around Konoha, which had triggering the women to beat their husbands and boyfriends for their infidelity. (3)

He had yet to show anyone him actually using it however he had appeared before Hokage Jiji in that form and flashed him. The old man was spurting so much blood Naruto was concerned he may have killed him. After quick check-up Naruko left as she laughed at his perverted Grandfather, not knowing that the ANBU guards were struggling not to laugh in the shadows.

He had also wondered around as someone else and did a number of perverted things in their name before watching as said person get's pummelled. This was how Naruto originally got his hands on Kakkashi's, as he eventually knew him as, book.

Naruto had been trying on a monthly basis to steal the silver haired man's book from him. Henge, traps, seals all failed. The man, for the most part, found it highly amusing that this blonde gaki was trying to prank him and paid him little mind. But in the end he fell and he fell to what many a man has fallen for. Feminine fury.

Naruto had spent an hour running around Konoha looking like Kakkashi, using what he knew of the man to make his actions seem realistic. Even going so far as to make them think 'Kakkashi' was doing what he was doing to make a smut book of his own, which people believed considering how much the man loved his Icha-Icha.

This meant that when Naruto turned the corner onto the street which Kakkashi was on Naruto changed back into himself. As soon as the mob of women, who he had taunted and tormented into a blind fury, had turned the corner as well they immediately locked onto Kakkashi and proceeded to charge him, shocking the Jonin into inaction.

What followed was a beat down even Tsunade would be proud of as Kakkashi was, wongly?, beaten down for 'his' perverted deeds that 'he' had inflicted on them, in the hopes that 'he' didn't actually follow 'his idea' to start his own smut series. During the distraction this caused Naruto transformed into Naruko and proceeded to assist in the unjust beating of an innocent man, while stealthily slipping his hand into the incapacitated Jonin and stealing the book.

Ten minutes later the recovered, but shocked and pained, Jonin would reach for his comfort item, his Icha-Icha book, only to find it gone and replaced with a note which said: "I win".

Kakkashi immediatly went into a terrified frenzy and proceeded run around the entirety of Konoha looking for the blonde delinquent, coincidently meeting up with his spandex wearing 'rival' who had believed Kakkashi had finally come into his 'YOUTHFUL SPIRIT'. Kakkashi was horrified by this however he could not risk losing his Icha-icha from so little.

He did eventually find Naruto when he saw a flash of Blonde and Orange turning a corner. Immediately following he encountered a sight of sacrilege, greater than even Gai's bowl cut hair and spandex. There, in the centre of an empty path, was a burning orange book.

Kakkashi immediately dived to save; it only to activate a trap which caused a pillar of fire to be released from underneath the book, instantly incinerating it. Kakkashi just stopped. He was like a statue hanging almost in mid air with his left leg sticking out and his hands reaching out in a comical manner.

He stood there for over ten minutes as his brain painfully computed what had just happened before he slumped to the ground with his head hung over the small pile of ashes. Naruto had laughed throughout this entire time, a laugh that was renewed when the full grown man slumped to the ground in such a pathetic manner.

This continued for another couple of minutes until Naruto became concerned by the broken posture the man assumed. The man had literally not moved an inch and he had a blank look on his 'face' as he just stared at the ash pile.

Finally feeling sorry for the man Naruto revealed himself and proceeded to swing the supposedly destroyed book in front of the man's face. Kakkashi was still in shut down mode so it took a minute however he eventually noticed that something that looked conspicuously like the book he had just lost was in front of his face.

Realising it was Kakkashi immediately reached and grabbed it before lovingly cuddling it to his chest while he, creepily, cried genuine tears of happiness. Disturbed and aware that the Silver haired Jonin may still lash out Naruto quickly left and made sure to avoid the man for the duration of the year.

Moving away from his hobbies. Naruto had also noticed the actions and reactions of one Hyuuga Hinata. He was embarrassed to admit it but he probably would not have noticed at all if he hadn't been hiding that one time. It happened shortly after he had pranked Kakkashi and was still in hiding from the potentially angry Jonin.

Naruto had seen the Silver hair and had immediately jumped and hidden in a nearby tree to avoid being seen, which he thankfully wasn't. However someone Naruto had not expected to evade was young Hinata, who had turned the corner just as he was thinking about jumping back down to find him gone.

Naruto had noticed her confused look which shot from left to right and up and down as if searching for something. Deciding to test a theory Naruto made a shadow clone and had it jump down while looking away from the Hyuua heiress. Hinata jumped in fear and shock before again hiding herself behind the corner with only a single eye visible.

The Clone walked away and proceeded to head to where he usually went to avoid suspicion before eventually turning a corner. Over this period the Hyuuga had been following at a distance the entire time and when the clone turned the corner she immediately rushed forward to hide behind the corner in question. It was all so cute and flattering in the way she did it.

He could tell there was no harmful intent from the way she acted. If anything she acted shy and reverent in her stares as his clone walked onwards. It was then a thought strayed into his mind.

"_Could it be that she likes me?_" Naruto wondered.

Then he remembered how they met. Him defending her honour and defeating the evil bad guys. That when he realised what exactly she was. A fan girl. Naruto promptly freaked out.

He did not want to have a fan girl like Satsuki had. They were so annoying and useless and constantly screamed and postured to impress their idol. Naruto did not want to have that kind of person into him.

However he continued to watch her. Feeling slightly curious and confused. The latter was because she actually wasn't acting like most fan girls he knew and it wasn't like it was not an earned reverence, though Naruto didn't see what was so great about it really. But what really confused him was the way she looked when some of the adults glared at his clone.

Sadness. Pain. Regret. These emotions he definitely had not expected. Fan girls always reacted with rage whenever their idol, justly or not, was attacked. She just looked as if she had somehow... failed him.

This part made Naruto VERY curious. He had no idea what this girl was doing or why but he sure as hell wanted to know!

Naruto made another Kagebushin and substituted with the other clone, which dispelled itself before he began to train like normal. He didn't get any results until the end of the day when all his clones had dispelled. Though when he got the information he didn't think about it until the next day when his mental exhaustion was cured.

When he did review his clones memories he was surprised to see what she did. After they had arrived at his training ground she had watched from the very edge of the clearing as he exercised with growing emotions on her face.

Hope, awe and determination. She had obviously been impressed by his training, or that he was training so hard or something. After an hour of watching him train the look of determination she had had seemingly reached its peak. She immediately ran off home where Naruto watched as she too began training with earnest.

Thankfully this was not the first time he had infiltrated the Hyuuga Compound, and it wouldn't be the last, and he was easily able to infiltrate and prank the entire compound before, with some effort and timing though. He was very happy that he knew how to evade and bypass the Hyuuga security because it meant that he could see her for what she truly was.

It was then, as he watched her train, that it became clear he wasn't a simple idol to her and she wasn't a simple fan girl. He was a genuine hero in her eyes. He was everything she wanted to be. Confident, kind, strong. He trained hard and struggled to earn everything he had. Naruto doubted she knew even a part of the extent of how that was true, however what she saw had obviously been enough.

He also understood why she felt she needed him as a figure to aspire to. Hinata was looked down upon by a number of the Hyuuga with clear disdain in their eyes. Her, what he assumed to be, sister was cold and indifferent to her, like all Hyuuga seemed to be, and her father openly criticised her for every small mistake she made.

He obviously had been rough with Hinata in the past, if her fear of him was any indication, and his look of frustration and disdain when he looked at and spoke to her spoke that he did not consider her to be a worthy successor to him and, if the constant comparison to her little sister were any indication, he favoured the younger of the siblings over the older one.

It disgusted him that her father treated her like a failure, as if she was useless. His arrogance blinded him and was destroying his daughter. However there was nothing Naruto could do about that. Hinata was part of a Clan and Clan business was only the Clan's business.

However that didn't mean he intended to abandon her. After fully reviewing the clones memories and realising they had felt the same feelings, not unexpected, after what they had saw Naruto was determined to befriend and help Hinata. He could not and would not abandon her to her fate.

...Canon...

Naruto had to be careful. This was a once in a life time event that he must complete to perfection or be forever out of his reach. He knew it was dangerous, that he would be punished for what he had done. But he had to try. This. Will be his greatest prank yet!

There, standing on the side of the Hokage Monument, were four Narutos. Each holding a half dozen small pots with a strange, translucent, gooey substance. In each pot was a separate paint brush and on each pot was the name of a different colours.

And each of them were hanging over one of the various faces of the previous Hokages. What he was doing up there no one would have been able to tell, even if they could see him. However half an hour later of him running and 'painting' it; everything became VERY clear. For in the places he had painted was a sight of many colours which had been patterned in a very interesting way.

On the face of the Sandaime was an oddly familiar orange book drawn over the lover half of the current Hokage's face. Revealing just enough to allow for a perverted blush and eyes to be visible. On the Shodaime's face the paint had made him look to have a conspicuously similar blush, but with curious eyes, as he looked in the direction of the Sandaime.

The face between them, the Niidaime's, had a surprisingly realistic back of a hand on his face, giving him the appearance that he was face-palming. And finally on the far right the Yondaime was also looking at the Sandaime while wearing a sweat drop on his head while looking incredulous. (4)

Sealing away all his equipment Naruto proceeded to dispel the three clones that he had created before hearing a terrifying shout of rage.

"NNNAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

It was now more than ever that Naruto was extremely glad that he had spent hundreds of thousands of hours learning tree climbing.

There, standing on the administrative building was one angry Iruka Umino-sensei while next to him was a not so amused Sandaime.

"Crap." Naruto said before running down the monument at high speeds. Truthfully it was only High-Genin however he could probably go faster if he didn't have any seals on. He had honestly never removed the seal. Ever. He had increased the strength of the seal however he had never tried to discover his real speed by taking it off.

This however didn't matter to him as he just believed that he would be a lot faster by the time he took it off. What did matter was escaping from Iruka-sensei and hiding somewhere safe for the next few hours. That was until he heard this.

"NARUTO IF YOU DON'T GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW I WILL DENY YOU THE CHANCE TO TAKE THE EXAM FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS!" Shouted a very irritated Hokage.

Naruto was suddenly standing next to the Hokage, oddly enough where Iruka-sensei just was and... "_where did Iruka go?_" Thought the Sandaime until he heard a rather loud shout from where Naruto had been. About ten metres from the ground. Hiruzen gave a sigh as he heard a loud thump of a body hitting the ground.

"For that I will be telling the Ichiraku's not to feed you Ramen for the next two days." Hiruzen said to the blonde, making said blonde's eyes go wide as he activated a power that only women and small children should ever control.

**PAPIINUGAN no JUTSU** (Puppy dog eyes technique)

"Please no!" Naruto begged in a small whisper. Hiruzen was suddenly admonishing himself.

"_Maybe I was too cruel, Ramen is his favourite food after all._" He was thankfully saved by the more powerful Iruka sensei.

"Hokage-sama don't give in to him!" Turning towards the monument they noticed the huffing Iruka who had managed to recover from the fall and had managed to run back up the building.

"He's just trying to get out of punishment!" Iruka said as he reached the duo while grabbing Naruto by the collar to make sure he doesn't try to run away.

Hiruzen shook his head to battle the effects of the powerful Jutsus.

"_That was too close._" The Sandaime thought (In a galaxy far far away a certain moustached freedom fighter sneezed)

"Naruto. Not only are you not attendning classes but you are also vandalising a Moument, a tomb stone to Hokage past and present." Iruka demanded in an angry tone. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I... I know I did wrong I just... what I want to say is... _**Orioke no Jutsu!**_" In a flash of green light Naruto disappeared leaving the two men standing next to a very beautiful, very naked, blonde woman. And Iruka... Iruka's hand was still at the general area Naruto's collar used to be. On the naked girls breasts.

Letting out a moan 'Naruko' at the contact looked at the shocked Iruka with a sexy, lustful gaze.

"Iruka-hentai!" 'She' said in cute, but very lustful, tone. Suddenly both men achieved lift off as blood fountained out of their noses at high pressure. Within moments a Kage and Chunin were lying on the ground defeated in the wake of this single Kinjutsu.

"Hehe, Iruka-sensei and Jiji are such big perverts!" Naruko said with a more normal tone as Naruto used his _**Fuhen Henge no Jutsu **_to provide 'Naruko' with some clothes. (same as the ones in the picture)

"N-Naruto..." Iruka growled weakly.

"Hai Iruka-sensei?" 'Naruko' asked in 'her' most angelic voice while crouching to put them on the same eye level.

"There will be... retribution for this..." he said as he got into a kneeling position as he struggled to stand.

"Eeeeh, but I thought I had repaid my debt by showing you 'the twins'?" Naruko said making the Jonin blush and stain his recently wiped nose with increasingly scarce blood. Then Naruko smiled seductively.

"Or is it you want to see them again?" She said as she lifted her top up to once again reveal her perfect globes. Iruka desperately tried to turn his eyes; but he was too slow and his male instincts were too strong. As soon as she was done revealing her 'twins' Iruka was once again flying through the air, resulting in his landing next to the still unconscious Hokage; out cold.

Naruko gave a tomboyish laugh at their reactions before checking to make sure they were both still alive after all that blood loss. Vitals confirmed he decided to complete his prank with a bit of artwork.

Once done Naruto left in his 'Naruko form' while heading towards the academy, leaving the two unconscious Shinobi on the ground with squiggly marks all over their faces. A good day for pranking.

...

Back in the Academy Naruto walked in his true form and sat down in his seat, grinning like an idiot.

"Huh? Where is Iruka-sensei? Is he slacking off?" Naruto asked innocently, ignoring the glare from Mizuki and the stares and head shakes from his various class mates.

"He went after you... did you really not see him?" Mizuki asked.

"Nope. Must have gotten lost... or maybe he went skirt chasing." Naruto's smiled grew bigger at that point. As if on cue the door opened to reveal a slightly dishevelled and very pissed Iruka. Sadly he had managed to remove the drawings on his face before he had arrived here.

"**Naruto... We will be talking after school.**" He said ominously, his anger clearly visible. Naruto straightened.

He was WAY too angry. And when he got this Angry Naruto had long learnt to obey. Or be Ramen deprived for a month.

"H- hai!" Naruto exclaimed nervously. Which caused some of the members of the class to snicker at him. Naruto ignored them however.

"Also. You will be cleaning the Hokage monument after the day is done. Hokage's orders." This caused everyone in the class to blink before looking towards the monument, seeing the still present drawings on the former Hokage's faces.

The room was filled with a number of snickers and chocked laughter at the comical drawings, something which made Naruto smile and Iruka scowl. Iruka quickly lost his temper and decided a bit of punishment was necessary for everyone.

"Alright spontaneous Henge test! One by one you are to come to the top and Henge into me." Iruka said impatiently, causing everyone in the class to jump and look at their teacher in shock.

"What?"

"No fair"

"Why do we have to be punished for the Baka?"

"SHUT UP!" Iruka shouted as he employed his _**Jindai Kashira no Jutsu**_(5), effectively silencing the entire class.

"Since you like to complain Sakura, you can go first." He ordered the Pinkette.

She grudgingly went to the front and performed a perfect Henge of Iruka. Iruka gave an encouraging smile.

"Well done Sakura, a perfect copy of me. Next, Naruto." Naruto smirked before wandering down. A smirk which did not go unoticed by Iruka.

"**If you even try to use that Jutsu on me again...**" He paused and leaned in to whisper, "**... and one word from me to the Hokage and you won't be able to buy Ramen ever again.**"

Naruto paled before giving a quick nod as Iruka leaned back. Naruto quickly Fuhen Henged into a perfect replication of Iruka, right down to the scowl he currently has on his face. Despite himself Iruka smiled at Naruto's Henge.

"Good, a perfect Henge. Well done. Alright, Shikamaru."

Naruto sighed in relief at the lighter tone Iruka was using now.

It was made too soon though.

As soon as school ended Iruka took him to the side and promptly berated him and lectured him on proper conduct around and towards the Village. He also forbade the use of the _**Orioke no Jutsu**_. An ultimatum Naruto completely ignored.

Once he was satisfied that he had lectured Naruto enough he dragged him towards the Hokage Monument to clean it until it shined. Only to find that the Hokage Monument was spotless and devoid of any paint or colour.

Naruto grinned as Iruka looked at him in surprise.

"A new solution of paint. It is unfortunately transparent when it is created however six hours after it is unsealed the paint will evaporate from the heat of day, leaving nothing to clean!" Naruto said proudly while Iruka looked at him incredulously. To think his student could create such a thing. Completely useless though it may be.

"Impressive. So instead of cleaning the Hokage Monument you will clean the Hokage's Office as an apology." Naruto looked at him in shock before giving a cry of rejection. Unfortunately his howls were ignored as he was dragged to the Hokage's office to begin his penance.

Half an hour later he was scrubbing the ceiling with a wet towel as he continued in his pursuit to clean the office.

"You better hurry up as you aren't leaving until you are finished." Iruka reminded him.

"Not that I have anything to rush back to." Naruto scoffed quietly. His Onii-san was currently on a mission which had taken longer than expected and would not be back for some time and Anko was also on a mission. Aside from them there was no one else who would be waiting on him.

Iruka had heard him however, which caused him to frown as he remembered Naruto's situation. He of course knew about Yamato however he also knew that Naruto spent a lot of time without him and did not have anyone really taking care of him in those times.

"Hey," he said, gaining Naruto's attention, "When you finish I'll take you out to Ramen." Iruka offered before Naruto gave a happy and energetic smile.

"ALRIGHT!" Naruto shouted as he began to scrub faster, causing Iruka to smile at his behaviour.

...

Later that evening Naruto and Iruka were sitting at the Ichiraku's store eating Ramen, well Iruka was eating while Naruto was breathing it in. It astonished Iruka that the boy could eat that much Ramen, that fast and in that manner without chocking or suffocating.

"ne, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto prodded. Iruka looked towards Naruto to see that he had taken off his goggles and was placing his hands together in a pleading motion.

"What?" Umino asked cautiously, fearing for his already diminished wallet.

"Can I wear your forehead protector?" Naruto asked in a pleading voice, his hands still clasped together.

"hmmm? Sorry but no. This is a sign you have graduated, that you have become an adult. Neither of which you have done." Iruka said in a teasing tone.

"Bummer!" Naruto cried in depression.

"Haha, that's why you removed your goggles isn't it?"

"Shut up! If you aren't going to do that then give me seconds!"

"Huh?! That was your fifth bowl!"

"That was my first set of Ramen. I'm asking for another set!"

"Then no."

"Come on!"

...

Everyone was waiting in their seats as Iruka announced the final graduation test.

"Alright of the Ninjutsu section you must peform the _**Bushin no Jutsu**_."

Naruto just nodded with a grin. He knew for a fact that he would have failed miserably had he not been taught the _**Kage Bushin no Jutsu**_ however with it he could.

When he was called he stood before Iruka and created a seal-less Kage Bushin which got a nod of approval from Iruka who smiled warmly.

"Excellent work Naruto. Now before you go get a headband I want you to close your eyes for a second."

Naruto looked confused before complying. He then felt something wrap around his head but remained still until Iruka told him to open his eyes. There before him was Iruka-sensei but with one difference. He didn't have a headband on anymore. Reaching up to touch it Naruto noticed that he had one on now and it wasn't shiny new either.

"You said you wanted to wear mine." Iruka said with a smile, which was returned full force as Naruto's face lit up with one of his legendary smiles. In a shocking display of formality he bowed before saying:

"Doumo arigatou(6)" Naruto said before looking into the shocked eyes of his Sensei before their recovery and his dismissal.

...

Naruto walked out of the front door, filled with Pride at having passed the exam and overjoyed at the graduation present that his sensei had given him. It did not last however.

"Isn't he 'that'?" Asked one of the parents that came to congratulate or console their kids.

"Yes and look, he has a headband!" Said another parent, her voice told of her shock and even horror.

"What?! They made him a Shinobi? Are they insane?!" Said the first parent.

"He shouldn't be a Shinobi, he doesn't have the right!"

After that he had thankfully moved outside of range of hearing them, though the fact he had used his Henge to muffle his ears helped tremendously. The damage however was already done and Naruto was in a bit of a depression.

He just didn't get it. Didn't understand why they hated him. He had received a promise from Jiji that his questions would be answered but it was still frustrating. He needed, no, he _deserved_ to know why. But he had already received a promise and he would only be hurting himself if he pressed for information which he would not receive.

Naruto just sighed as he walked back to apartment to make a celebratory cake, at least that was until he noticed Mizuki-sensei trying to get his attention.

"Can I help you Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto asked in a subdued voice. He mentally cursed himself for allowing his depression to show, but he couldn't do anything about it now so he pretended like it never occured.

"I know it's hard to be alone." Mizuki said as he moved close to him before putting a reassuring hand on him. "Iruka understands just as well. You know he is an Orphan, like you." He confided. Naruto's eyes widened at the information that he had been given.

"Really?" Mizuki nodded with a small, sad smile.

"Yeah, he too was a class clown. Pranking and making trouble, making himself look like the idiot in order to get attention." He said nostalgically. "I think he sees himself in you. Sees the lonely child that he was before." Naruto looked down in thought as the bond he felt for Iruka grew with their apparent similarities.

"Anyway I have an idea for you. One which I am sure the village will be in awe at!" Mizuki said with a happy smile, as if he was revealing some cool new game or something.

"What?" Naruto asked in genuine interest.

"If you managed to steal the Scroll of seals and learn all of the techniques you would gain the respect of the Villagers!" Mizuki said enthusiastically. Naruto looked just as excited, however this was just a front.

"_W- Wait, wasn't that a really important scroll which contains the village's Kinjutsus?_" Naruto asked himself as he reviewed his now foggy memory of when Yamato Onii-san explained it when he gave him the _**Kage Bushin no Jutsu**_.

"_Why would Mizuki tell me to steal THAT scroll. If even I know its value then he surely does. It could be because he knows but that might not be the case. Actually why does he care at all? He never showed that he liked me before so why is he trying to help me now?_"

Naruto was confused however he used his not inconsiderable acting skills to play it cool and he 'readily' agreed to do it, while in actuality intending to ask his Jiji about it.

...

Entering the Hokage's house he quickly came into contact with his Jiji.

After explaining the situation the Hokage was concerned. It would be impossible for a young, Jinchuriki, Genin alone to be evidence against an 'upstanding' Shinobi's word. If they were to catch him it would have to be in the act.

"Alright Naruto. This is what we are going to do." He said as he walked to where the Scroll of sealing was.

"We are going to go along with his plan for the time being. You are going to take the scroll as planned and are to wait for him to arrive and try to take the scroll from you. I and several others will be watching for him to strike. When he does so we will rush in and arrest him." Hiruzen explained carefully, earning an understanding nod from Naruto.

"There will be a chance that we won't get there in time as we will have to keep our distance to avoid suspicion, so you may have to hold him off until then. Understood?" Naruto nodded a confirmation again before he took the scroll and headed off.

"Ah, during the time you have the scroll I'll permit you to learn the Bunshin Daibakuha." The Hokage added which caused Naruto to smile before he disappeared.

Back in the house the Hokage was sighing in exasperation.

"Barely a Genin and he is already causing trouble and taking on missions too high for his rank." He said to himself before going to set everything up.

...

Naruto did exactly as he was instructed. But with a small twist. Instead of just learning the Bunshin Daibakuha like we was allowed Naruto made Two copies of the Scroll. One was a fake which he would use as a decoy should Mizuki somehow manage to get his hands on the scroll and escape. Highly unlikely.

The second one was a copy for Naruto to peruse in his spare time. This Naruto had to make on the move in order to avoid Jiji's crystal ball from watching him when he got back. Naruto knew he definetly WAS doing something illegal now however he vowed to himself to only peruse it and not to use any of the techniques aside from the ones that he was safe to learn.

Once at his chosen spot Naruto settles down to learn the Bunshin Daibakuha as was expected of him. It wasn't that hard to learn as it was a side technique to a much more difficult one. Which left his with a lot of time to get it right. A lot of time as, despite leaving a believable trail, no one was even close to finding him. Bummer!

Naruto continued to pretend to be reading from the scroll when finally, three hours after the alarm sounded. And it was Iruka-sensei?! DAMNIT!

"Naruto!" Naruto struggled not to jump at the voice as Iruka looked down at him in a mixture of anger and disappointment. Ouch. Playing oblivious Naruto began his act.

"Found you Iruka-sensei!"

"IDIOT I FOUND YOU!" Umino countered while activating his _**Jindai Kashira no Jutsu**_.

"Hehe. I thought I would have had more time to learn some techniques like Mizuki said!" Naruto popped in, trying to peak Iruka's suspicion towards the real villain. Iruka raised an eyebrow before giving Naruto a glancing over, noticing the scuff marks, scratches and clothe tears which adorned his Orange and black jumpsuit (Like Older naruto's).

"_**Thank goodness the injuries have already healed to little more than scratches otherwise he would be freaking out!**_"

Despite the ease at which he had learnt the technique it had not been the safest as he found out. The technique was an explosive technique which changed with the amount of Chakra in the clone. Considering his reserves that resulted in a truly explosive first attempt and had resulted in a number of serious injuries.

"Mizuki set you up to this?" Iruka asked in confusion.

"Yeah!" Naruto pressed. "He said that if I was able to learn all the Jutsus in the Scroll the Village would respect me and no longer hate me!" Naruto said with a large grin. A mostly fake one. That was one thing about Naruto that simply could not be faked. His smile was his alone and no one, regardless of Henge, could truly mimic it. Not even Naruto himself.

Iruka, as such, narrowed his eyes at the very fake smile. He knew there was more to this from that smile but he couldn't determine what exactly. In the end it didn't matter as just as he noticed it he felt an intent to kill behind him. Pushing the young blonde out of the crossfire Iruka ended up taking the brunt of the attack as Kunai rained from the traitor Mizuki.

"Nice job finding the moron."

"So it was true..." Iruka said in a pained voice as Kunai were stuck in his arms, shoulders legs and stomach.

"Naruto give me the scroll!" Mizuki demanded. Naruto was about to tell him to shove it up his ass but was interrupted by a desperate Iruka.

"DO NOT GIVE THE SCROLL NO MATTER WHAT!" Naruto looked at him and was about to say he wouldn't when Iruka once again interrupted.

"THAT IS A DANGEROUS SCROLL WHICH MIZUKI USED YOU TO STEAL AND MAKE YOU TAKE THE BLAME!"

Naruto, having given up trying to talk decided to take a stance only for Mizuki to say something which hit him hard.

"Hey Naruto, do you wanna know why everyone hates you?" Naruto froze.

"NO! DON'T-"

"12 years ago a certain nine tailed fox attacked Konoha. It was sealed away by the Yondaime. Ever since then there has been a law-"

"_I shouldn't listen! I have Jiji's promise! But... But..._"

"What law?" Naruto asked.

"No, Naruto, don't listen to him!"

"A law which none of the younger generation should ever know about, especially not you."

"WHAT LAW?!" Naruto demanded. Mizuki smirked.

"A law that no one was to discuss the fact that you are the Kyuubi Fox."

Naruto's world stopped.

"_I am?_" Naruto asked himself.

...

Hiruzen looked into his Crystal ball wide eyed as the truth was revealed.

"Shit." He muttered. His intention to tell him himself was gone and now he was in a hostile and delicate situation while learning a life altering truth. Shit was an undestatement.

"_This will be bad!_" and he was right. Naruto was effectively frozen. Completely unable to act or react. So much so that, despite his training, he was a statue in the face of the large Shuriken that was heading his way. Hiruzen held his breath in fear and pain, his hands clutched the crystal ball as he willed for a miracle.

He got one in a way. Within the blink of an eye Naruto was being covered by Iruka Umino as he took the Shuriken in the back for him.

Iruka whispered some words to him which the ball, sadly, could not quite transmit before a terrified and pained Naruto scrabbled away. Reinforcements were already on their way and it was just a matter of time before they got there which meant there was no point in him rushing there himself. It was torture. To watch his surrogate grandson suffer and not be there to help him.

"Shit."

...

Naruto ran. He just ran. He didn't know what to think anymore.

"_Everyone knew? Onii-san? Jiji? Iruka-sensei? Did they lie to me? Did Jiji really mean his promise?_"

Naruto didn't know. He just ran. Ran from Mizuki, Iruka, his Jiji. But it seems that when you run you are often chased. Looking behind him he saw a surprisingly fit Iruka chasing...

"_ME?!_"

Iruka? called out to his copy, telling him to give him the scroll. Said copy proceeded to ram his body into the supposedly fake Iruka who made a show of being hurt before releasing the Henge.

"How did you know I wasn't Iruka?" Said the pissed looking Mizuki. The copy smiled before a puff of smoke showed the cancellation of the Jutsu, to reveal an injured Iruka.

"Because I'm Iruka." Said the real one.

"Hehe, you even transformed into you parent's killer to protect him." Mizuki chuckled.

"I won't allow the Scroll to fall into the hands of someone like you!" Iruka countered.

"Idiot, Naruto is no better than I am."

"What?" Mizuki's smirked condescendingly.

"The scroll has great power in it. There is no way that the Demon Fox wouldn't give up that kind of power." Iruka looked at him for a moment.

"Your right." Iruka said in a serious tone.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as a deep pain settled into his heart.

"_If even Iruka sensei thinks that then... Onii-san... Jiji... do you hate me too?_"

"The **Demon Fox** would do that." Naruto's eyes widened in hope and shock.

"But Naruto is different. He is after all my excellent student." Naruto's was shocked. But more importantly he was happy.

"Did you think I gave him MY headband because I thought it was interesting? He may be a scoundrel with no respect for his elders and he may not be the sharpest tool in the shed." Iruka continued.

"No one accepts him and he is in pain every day because of the Village. "

"But he isn't the Fox. He is a member of Konoha. He is Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto cried. He had never cried like this before. Even when his effort were reduced to nothing Naruto had never cried like this. He was just so happy. Happy that he was wrong, happy that he was loved, happy that he was truly acknowledged.

"Feh, Whatever. I was going to kill you later but I think I'll do it now." Mizuki scoffed as he drew his Dai Shuriken to finish Iruka off.

"HURRY UP AND DIE!" He said as he charged at the downed and defenceless Iruka. Iruka merely relaxed his body as he waited for the inevitable.

Suddenly a crunching sound resounded throughout the clearing as the foot of the Blonde Uzumaki smashed into the traitorous Chunin. Iruka's eyes widened in surprise as the young Genin revealed himself to defend his former sensei.

"_Naruto... were you here the whole time?_"

"_**You! You shou**_ldn't have done that!" Mizuki growled. Naruto ignored him as he put down the scroll in preparation to fight.

"_**Don't touch Iruka-sensei. I'll kill you!**_" He threatened.

"That won't be necessary Uzumaki-san." Came a disembodied voice. Suddenly there were a dozen ANBU standing around Mizuki, suppressing him for interrogation later.

"Huh?" Iruka said in surprise. What were ANBU doing here?

"Bout time you got here! What did you stop at a cafe or something? You should have been her five minutes ago!" Naruto demanded in an angry voice.

"What?" Iruka asked in his confusion.

"Iruka Umino-san. This was a sting operation to capture the traitor Mizuki who was trying to induct Uzumaki-san into stealing the Scroll of Sealing." An Anbu informed. "Despite the problems of finding you it was a resounding success and now we have evidence of him attacking two leaf Shinobi as well as masterminding the attempted theft of a Village treasure."

Iruka just blinked.

"So everything was planned?" Iruka asked incredulously. "Why wasn't I informed!"

"To ensure that we did not spook the target. It was also why we were so far away, to ensure that he did not change plans part way."

Naruto just nodded along with the explanation as Iruka looked between them in shock. After finally getting over it the ANBU left to finish his job.

"Naruto can you come here for a second." Iruka said as he ushered Naruto closer.

"Good job!" He said proudly as he placed his hand on the Blonde's hair. Naruto smiled happily as feelings of joy grew and his loneliness abated.

"Ah that's right I didn't get the chance to because we were in class but let's go and celebrate your Graduation and first successful mission at Ichiraku's place."

He said cheerily before he noticed the blonde lower his head. Before he could ask what was wrong Naruto glomped him while once again crying his joy and happiness into Iruka.

Iruka sighed as he returned the hug despite being injured. He couldn't help but notice that this was a B-rank mission though. A fresh Genin completing a B-rank mission without anyone knowing or suspecting anything. Maybe he really could be a great Hokage.

...

_**(1) To be honest I completely forgot about him. He stuck out less than Shino for me so I didn't really think about him until I realised I would have to write about him in Canon. Kinda Embarrassing. Anyway the next bit may be a bit awkward.**_

_**(2) Sudden Orgasm Jutsu**_

_**(3) Picture of my vision of Naruko in my Profile.**_

_**(4) I believe I saw this in Neo Yondaime Hokage. Maybe. **_

_**(5) Big head Jutsu**_

_**(6)Thank you very much : not very polite**_

_**CANON IS HERE! **_

_**FINA-FUCKING-LY! **_

_**I was actually unsure about how I did things. In one sense I wanted to keep things imilar. Which means Iruka will love and respect him as a little brother. However in another sense Naruto was different which meant the story would be different. I quite like the way I handled it though. Things were a bit out of place however I think by doing so I managed to satisfy both parts.**_

_**What do you think?**_

_**Anyway I want to say I have decided on my Sub-element. It is set and won't change. I have two people, Coduss and "Twin fangs of Chaotic Insight", working to help me maxmimise my knowledge of the Sub-element and to create Jutsus for it. I could have done it maybe however it would take too long and I would probably have to set back and delay my releases.**_

_**This is a very important part of the story as it gives you guys a sense of what is going to happen and how I will actually write the Canon story. Which means I need to know if you loved or hated it and what you liked or hated.**_

_**This is important because, while I will be doing it in my way, I want to make a story which you guys will enjoy and will come back to.**_

_**Anyways Thank you all for your help and I will see you next week.**_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

_**I said one week and it seems I meant one week! For once. But here is the next chapter! Hurray! And oh so tiring. It was easier when I was just ranting my new ideas to you all but now I actually have to write a story! **_

_**We're doomed. I should also mention this story is slightly shorter than others as I didn't want to start the test until next chapter when I had more than a thousand words to write it.**_

_**On a side note I have put up my Naruko link which is how I see Naruko. It also has the clothes mentioned in the previous chapter. Also cookie for anyone who noticed his change from the affectionate -chan to the more formal -san. As for why? He is 12 now and not so much a kid.**_

_**I will admit now I did not expect to be able to get two chapters a week or so when I began and now I expect it to take longer as I am approaching a period where my free time will be diminished greatly.**_

_**Anyway thanks for the favs, follows and reviews it means a lot to know you guys are taking an active interest in the story.**_

_**UPDATE: 12/2/14 I fixed the names and the Hinata stutter a bit so it isn't quite as exaggerated. I have also done some general corrections here and there and that's it. OH I also may make even slower releases. My momentum has simply vanished so I don't know what my schedule will be like afterwards. I hope I finiish it though as I have loads of ideas.**_

Naruto exited the forest and was greeted by his Jiji who was standing there smiling at them with several Ninja, who were probably part of the search for him.

"Excellent work all of you." He said to everyone, though his eyes never shifted from Naruto.

"ANBU, take Mizuki for interrogation to see with he was in league with anyone. Everyone else may leave." Commanded the Hokage. The ANBU left immediately however the other Ninja lingered for a bit to continue the glares that were shot his way, but they too left leaving only Iruka and Naruto.

"Iruka you need medical attention so please hurry to the hospital." The Sandaime encouraged as he continued to eye Naruto. Iruka looked at the scene a moment more before following his Hokage's 'suggestion' and left.

There was silence as the two looked at each other. What could they really say? What could Hiruzen say? 'Hey I know I have kept the fact you are the container of a demon a secret from you but that's no biggie!' Yeah that would go over REAL well.

"Sorry." Hiruzen said solemnly. He meant it. Truly. He wanted to tell him. He wanted to be the one to tell him. He wanted him to find out where he was safe and in a loving environment. Instead they got the EXACT opposite.

Naruto just look at his Jiji in silence for a moment after the apology. He could tell his Jiji meant it. It was kind of hard to lie like that and he had yet to ever see a successful attempt. Naruto was still confused and a little hurt by this new information however he did not feel hate or anything towards his surrogate grandfather.

"Its fine Jiji." Hiruzen's smile returned upon hearing his continued familial status. "You wanted to protect me from the truth until I was strong enough and old enough to hear it." Naruto reasoned.

"Thank you for thinking so." Hiruzen said, happy and proud that Naruto thought this way.

"Well it seems that promise ended up being redundant after all." Naruto murmured. Hiruzen sighed at the inaccuracy of that statement.

"No. There is still a great deal more to tell." Hiruzen stated seriously. Naruto looked at him in shock.

"More?!" He exclaimed. "_How much more could there be?!_"

"Yes. There is much to talk about still and, as I have promised, you will learn all when you become a Chunin." Hiruzen said firmly. Naruto looked set to demand the answers however his words died in his throat. He had already got the main question answered and it would sustain him. It would not take too long before he could take the Chunin exams.

"Alright Jiji. I trust you. Just write a memo or something so you don't forget in your old age!" Naruto said with a cheeky smile. Sarutobi scowled at the comment.

"I AM NOT THAT OLD!" The Sandaime cried futilely. Not only was Naruto not paying attention but he was also already gone from the clearing.

Hiruzen sighed in exasperation at the Blonde's antics and cheek.

"_That child is becoming cheekier by the day! Also I AM NOT that old!... Am I?_"

...

"You know for someone who wears orange you sure have taste." A short balding man said as he leaned against his camera, looking approvingly at the young Blonde choice of clothes and stance.

"WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT THE ORANGE -DATTEBAYO!" The Blonde demanded.

"It's hideous." The old man deadpanned. "Are you sure you don't want to wear something more normal?"

"What are you talking about? There is nothing cooler than Orange. Half the village was wearing orange at one point!" Naruto argued back.

"Only because you put orange dye into everyone's washing. And it only lasted two days before everyone had bought a new set of clothes or removed the dye."

"Doesn't negate the point though!" Naruto countered pointlessly.

"It does."

"Sh-shut up and take the damn photo." He demanded as he posed. The old man sighed in surrender.

"_At least he isn't wearing make-up and pulling weird faces._" He thought, trying to keep positive.

"Alright in three, two, one..."

FLASH

...

Hiruzen looked at the Ninja registration photo in relief at the fact it wasn't embarrassing to look at. If anything it looked 'cool'.

The photo showed Naruto wearing his usual Blue trousers and Orange jumper however unlike usual he had the jumper unzipped to show off his muscles through his tight t-shirt. His legs were mostly facing the wrong way, however he had twisted his body left so that he was actually still able to look directly at the camera to expose his face.

His farthest hand was visibly in his pocket in a 'mature' manner while his closest hung on his kunai belt. On his face was one of his beautiful smiles which he had shown few. To add the frankly awe inspiring pose, which made him reminiscent of the Yondaime, the sun was positioned perfectly to bring a glimmering effect to the forehead protector he wore, drawing attention to the proudly displayed symbol of the village.

"So what do you think?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"To be honest I'm actually surprised that you made such a good job of it. I fully expected that you would pain your face or something." He noticed the grimace that Naruto made and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you see. I actually told Onii-san about what I had _**originally**_ planned however he immediately rejected it and threatened me with his Ghoul eyes when I resisted." Naruto said as he shivered.

Hiruzen nodded in understanding. It had long been a powerful weapon against Naruto's antics, keeping some of his more eccentric pranks from seeing the light of day. However Yamato had a been reluctant about using the technique on Naruto who had formed a brotherly relationship with him rather than a subordinate one. It also seemed like Naruto was building a resistance too.

"By the way how did you get the leaves to act like that?" Hiruzen asked, referring to the three leaves which appeared to be dancing around him.

"Leaves?" Naruto asked in confusion before he walk around the table to read get a look at his photo.

"Wow! That make me look so cool!" Naruto exclaimed before he took his seat again. Hiruzen gave an amused smile before it turned into a frown as the door slammed open and a little child gave his battle cry.

"FIGHT ME OLD GEEZER!" a short brown haired boy demanded as he shot into the room.

"_Again? What is this, the twentieth time today?_" Hiruzen asked himself in exasperation. He loved his grandson but the boy's actions were, to put it bluntly, annoying.

Hiruzen gained some relief, along with a bit of worry, as his sole grandson tripped on his scarf and proceeded to fall flat on his face.

"OOOW" the boy cried out in pain as his face became acquainted with the floor.

"Oh no not again!" A disembodied voice shouted from outside the room before a tall man wearing tinted glasses and his headband as a bandana.

"DAMNIT WHO SET THAT TRAP!" The young boy demanded of the people present.

"Are you Alright? And there wasn't a trap!" The Ninja said as he re-adjusted his glasses the smallest millimetre.

"Hey you!" The boy exclaimed as he noticed Naruto staring at him, wondering who the hell this kid was.

The older ninja also finally noticed the Blonde which prompted him to glare at the boy, something said Blonde had thankfully not noticed as he was occupied by the brat in front of him.

"I KNOW YOU ARE THE ONE WHO SET THAT TRAP!" Naruto suddenly looked indignant before he rushed forward and grabbed the little brat by the collar.

"LIKE I WOULD MAKE SUCH A LAME TRAP! YOU TRIPPED OVER YOUR OWN FEET YA IDIOT!" Naruto countered with righteous fury at the insinuation he would lay such a small time trap.

"Hey Naruto! Let him go he is the Hokage's Grandson!" Glasses shouted while pointing at both of the people he mentioned.

Naruto looked incredulously at the man as he continued to hold his pseudo-cousin.

The boy looked like he was about to say something but was quickly silence when a fist slammed into the top of his head.

"WHY THE HELL SHOULD THAT MATTER?!" Naruto said as he slammed his fist into the boy, knocking him to the ground.

"Are we done Jiji?" Naruto asked grumpily before leaving as he was dismissed by the sighing Hokage, much to the boy's guardian's protest.

...

Ten minutes later Naruto noticed the 'arrival' of the kid who had interrupted his registration. The boy was making a pathetic attempt to hide his presence from him. He made lots of noise, at no point was he completely hiding his body and - by the log is he actually holding up that camouflage curtain sideways?!

Having had enough of watching the boy make a complete fool of himself Naruto finally called him out.

"STOP FOLLOWING ME WITH SUCH LAME HIDING TECHNIQUES! DO IT PROPERLY!" Naruto paused for a moment.

"Actually, DON'T FOLLOW ME AT ALL!" Naruto corrected.

"Hehe, impressive. You saw through my cover. It seems the rumours are true."

"No, even civilians could see through _that_ cover." Naruto deadpanned, but was completely ignored.

"Hey I'll make you my Oyabun-"

"Wha-" Naruto started.

"- and in exchange PLEASE TEACH ME THAT _**ORIOKE NO JUTSU**_ WHICH DEFEATED GRAMPS!"

The boy begged.

"PLEASE BOSS!"

"_Boss?_" Naruto asked himself.

...

The sandaime shivered in terror, as if something terrible was going to happen. Soon. And most likely due to a certain blonde that both his Grandson, and just now Ebisu, went after.

...In a clearing somewhere...

"ALRIGHT THE BASICS ARE BON, KYUU, BON (Wide thin wide.)" Said the culprit blonde.

"YES BOSS! HENGE!" The Hokage's Grandson declared. The boy couldn't use the Fuhen Henge, as the amount of Chakra used alone would kill him, so he was using a watered down version with the original Henge.

When the Henge's smoke dispersed Naruto found himself looking at an ugly, fat woman with a punk's hairstyle! Needless to say Naruto was revolted by the poor excuse of a sexy woman.

"_I had did better on my first try!_" Naruto said as he mentally cringed.

"NO! WRONG! MORE SLENDER! LESS SAGGING!" Naruto demanded of his new pupil.

...An hour and a number of lumps later...

"Finally!" Naruto said as he and his student landed on the convenient log in exhaustion.

The brat had finally managed to get a decently sexy woman. Not so much cute or quite as sexy as his own version, or as real, but he couldn't deny that she was very pretty. Then again it was a good try on his part considering he had yet to get his hands on an actual smut yet. Even Naruto's version was merely good looking before he stole Kakashi's Icha-Icha.

"By the way." Naruto began. "Why are you constantly going after the gramps? Like all the time?"

His 'subordinate' leaned forward as he collected his thoughts.

"Jiji gave me the name 'Konohamaru'." He began.

"Everyone know that's my name. But no one has ever called me that." Konohamaru stated solemnly.

"When they look at me, talk to me or even call for me all they ever see is my Jiji. That's why I want the Hokage title, so that they will see me." Konohamaru finished with determination.

"Idiot." Gaining Konohamaru's attention. "Like anyone would acknowledge a brat like you." Naruto continued, not giving Konohamaru a chance to protest.

"The position of Hokage is difficult and painful and require great strength and fortitude. If you truly want to be Hokage..." Naruto said.

"What?" Konohamaru asked with reckless determination.

"You have to defeat me!" Naruto said in a feral manner, as he looked at the young boy with a challenging and confident grin, causing the determination Konohamaru had shown to fall away in place of shock.

There was a moment when nothing happened as Konohamaru processed what it was that Naruto was saying. What he was _implying_. However the moment was cut short at the sound of a third voice.

"I've found you." Said a more adult voice. Both children looked around to see Ebisu standing on top of a tree, looking down on them. Well looking was too kind a word and he was not really 'looking' at Konohamaru. He was glaring at Naruto.

Naruto did notice his look this time, even through the glasses. He was still hurt by the look but he was thankful he knew it was no longer his fault.

"Young master let's go home." Ebisu told Konohamaru as he jumped down.

"NO! I'M GOING TO JIJI AND GET THE HOKAGE TITLE SO DON'T GET IN MY WAY!" Ebisu's voice became patronising after this.

"A Hokage must be well taught in every aspect of being a Shinobi," Ebisu began.

"HENGE!" Konohamaru cried as he ignored his sensei's lecture.

"You must master 1000 skills and then... huh?"

"Take this: _**Orioke no Jutsus**_!" Konohamaru cried, transforming into a beautiful woman with only clouds to protect her modesty. Ebisu's cheeks reddened slightly and his jaw dropped in shock but he was otherwise unaffected.

"It didn't work?!" Konohamaru said in shock. Naruto knew better. The only way it WOULDN'T have worked somewhat was if he was a playboy or gay. Ebisu was obviously neither if his blush and next words stated.

"WH-WHAT A PERVERTED SKILL! I AM A GENTLEMAN, SUCH DIRTY TRICKS WILL NOT WORK ON ME!"

"Oh really?" Naruto thought evilly.

"IF YOU HANG OUT WITH IDIOTS LIKE HIM YOU WILL BECOME STUPID! JUST DO AS I SAY AND I WILL BE YOUR SHORTCUT TO HOKAGE!" Ebisu yelled at the struggling Konohamaru.

"OH REALLY?!" Naruto thought angrily. Now pissed off with the closet pervert.

Without handseals Naruto created over a dozen clones.

"WOW THAT'S AMAZING!" Konohamaru shouted in awe. Ebisu only smirked at the supposed attempt to fight him before getting into a battle stance.

"How foolish. Just because you are a Genin now doesn't mean you can hope to face me, an elite tutor!" Naruto ignored him in favour of his next move,

"_**FUHEN HENGE**_!" Ebisu blinked in surprise at the name of the Jutsu and the face he was intending to use a Henge. Suddenly he found himself surrounded by a harem of beautiful naked women. Dark skin, light skin, blonde hair, red hair, brown hair, leggy and petite, buxom and slender, glasses -

Ebisu fell immediately as a massive amount of blood propelled him through the air before landing unconscious on the ground several feet away.

"Dirty tricks won't work on you eh? Then what was my _**Harem no Jutsu**_?" Naruto said as he smirked victoriously.

"THAT WAS AWESOME BOSS, YOU DEFEATED MY TUTOR!"

"IF I KNEW THAT TECHNIQUE COULD EASILY DEFEAT GRAMPS AND BECOME-" he tried to say however he was silence when Naruto smacked him over the head.

"Idiot it is not that simple. The title 'Hokage' is given to the greatest Shinobi of the village."

"Because of all the bad things in my life I almost lost myself to despair." Naruto said solemnly. "But I somehow managed to find people who acknowledge me for me. But to find them was incredibly difficult. So you better prepare yourself." Naruto said as he made to leave.

"Prepare?" Konohamaru said, calling after him. Making him stop.

"If you want an incredible title like Hokage, which everyone will acknowledge..." Naruto looked around at the young hopeful who was waiting expectantly.

"There aren't going to be any shortcuts." Naruto said with a smile. Naruto looked at him in awe before he remembered what Naruto had said earlier. He turned around before speaking.

"Blah blah blah, stop lecturing me as if you know everything." Konohamaru said dismissively.

"I'M NOT LETTING YOU BE MY BOSS ANYMORE!" He said loudly. Naruto just listened and waited for him to finish. Then Konohamaru turned around with a smile on his face and a fire in his eyes.

"From now on. We're **Rivals**!" He declared causing Naruto to smile along with him.

"Sorry Konohamaru. But starting tomorrow I will be beginning my Shinobi career. But one day I'll fight you for the title of Hokage." Naruto said with a serious smile.

"I'll be looking forward to it, Konohamaru." Naruto then turned and moved to leave as Konohamaru eyes widened and his face gained a serene appearance before he smiled again and saluted the retreating Naruto.

Neither of them realising the existence of the happy and hopeful eyes which watched them through a crystal ball.

...Next day...

Naruto turned up for the team placement, which was located at the Academy at about 8 o'clock like everyone else. Despite this fact his usually sitting partner was already present. One Hyuuga Hinata.

"Morning Hinata-chan." Naruto said cheerfully, which caused Hinata to blush considerably before she could make her reply.

"G-good morning Naruto-k-kun" Hinata stuttered. Naruto wanted to frown at the fact she still had trouble speaking confidently, despite the years that they have known each other. However he pushed those emotions down before smiling brightly in encouragement.

She received enough disciplining at home that she didn't need it here. Naruto therefore opted for the positive approach of trying to get her out of her shell bit by bit. It had worked for the most part. He remembered when he had first spoken to her when he was 11.

...

It had been a disaster. As soon as he was within five feet of her she became extremely nervous and possessed a deep blush on her face. He initially kept that distance to keep her from becoming too nervous however it turned out to be in vain because as soon as he greeted her she blushed even more and fainted.

Naruto was happy for her that he was the only one there to see it. Though he also guessed she would not have wanted to fall unconscious in front of her crush. He would have been embarrassed himself if he had just spontaneously fainted in front of Satsuki.

It took her ten minutes before she came around and was able to open her eyes. Unfortunately Naruto was changing the damp towel he had put on her head for a cooler one when her eyes opened. His face was, at the time, only a foot from hers.

She immediately passed out again and it took her another five minutes to recover. This time he was a safer distance away. Her first reaction was a full body blush, if her hands and neck were any indication, as the humiliation that she had fainted not once but twice from his mere presence sunk in.

Naruto was now a good seven foot from her and he remained quiet until she was able to calm down, all the while giving an encouraging smile.

"H-ho-how l-l-l-long was I o-out?" The lavender eyed girl asked hesitantly. Said eyes were looking literally everywhere but at him. Naruto cold have opted to give a blunt and loud response but if the last two reaction were any indication subtly, ugh, was required for this.

"Not long." Naruto murmured vaguely. Trying to keep her embarrassment and self-loathing to a minimum. It seemed that she was able to keep from fainting at the sound of his voice this time thankfully.

There was an uncomfortable silence between the two. Naruto wanted to break it however there would be no progression if Hinata relied upon him to start a simple conversation. Hinata, as Naruto predicted, didn't have the confidence to face her crush let alone talk to him. But she knew she had to as she could see that he was expecting it of her.

It was nearly half an hour later when Hinata finally mustered the courage to speak to him.

"What d-d-d-d-did you want to t-talk about?" The Hyuuga stuttered. Naruto's smile widened and his eyes become exceptionally gentle as she finally spoke to him. Hinata's blush deepened but she stayed strong.

"I just wanted to talk to you. You know, be your friend." Naruto said in a low, calm voice. Despite the tone this was dangerous thing to say as Hinata was suddenly on the verge of fainting at the prospect that her crush wanted to be her friend.

"_He wants to be my friend?!_" She exclaimed mentally. She was both ecstatic and terrified by the prospect. She wanted to talk to him for years now and finally she would have the chance after _he_ initiated the conversation. But she was still very shy and the impression he must have received was embarrassing.

"I-I-I w-want t-to be your f-fri-friend too N-n-n-aruto-k-k-kun!" She said as quickly as she could before her dwindling resolve gave out. She was rewarded by the kind and genuinely happy smile which she had seen when they had first met. She fainted again.

...

It had been a rough year or so for the new friendship. Not only were her parents and clan disapproving of her choice in friends but she was struggling to look him in the eye and interact with him. It had taken him half a year of constantly sitting next to her during class and lunch in order for her to look him in the eye once.

It had been a joyous day which was almost ruined when she grew dizzy and fainted when he tried to support her. It was still a win. Naruto had also taken to introducing her to his other friends who welcomed her warmly.

Too warmly in Kiba's case however once he realised she was dead set on Naruto, for some reason, he backed off and became more brotherly towards her. At least the dog breath knew when to quit otherwise Naruto felt he would be beating him away with a stick on a daily basis.

So far they had reached the point where Naruto would help her with her training and would be able to sit within two feet of her without causing much more than a blush. The training part had been the greater hurdle for them however.

The 'training' actually mostly involved sparring, as neither had any knowledge of the other's abilities or how to improve them. This however was a major problem for Hinata. She was too kind. She would always pull her punches, always miss despite the fact she could easily have hit her mark. She held back in favour of being hit.

This was a big no-no in Naruto's book. He told her so too. He really didn't know how to tell her that she needed to be more confident. Naruto was always confident and any depression was fixed with some hard-love. This would not work on Hinata as her problem resided in her kindness rather than any actual weakness.

In the end he had to make her come to the right answers by giving her questions which her kindness would demand she do in a certain way.

Questions such as: 'What will you do when an enemy is going to kill one of your teammates?' or 'What if your unwillingness to give your all in a spar gives your teammates a false sense of security?' and other such things.

And he made progress through this method. Kindness can be both a weakness and a strength. It is how you view it and how you use it. Once Hinata realised that her kindness was hurting others more than any blow she stopped holding back in their spars. And boy what a change.

While she was rarely able to hit him, even with his seals on, it became extremely difficult to fight her in close combat. This was especially the case after he upped his seals. Putting her on his training requiem also achieved results, though not as large considering her significantly smaller stamina.

However their training often ended quickly as the Bodyguards and minders which she dumped eventually found her and took her home.

...Back to the Present...

Naruto sat down next to Hinata, who was sitting in front of Satsuki, and waited for Iruka to arrive. Half an hour later and some bullying of a poor boy who was sat next to Satsuki when Sakura walked in Iruka arrived, on the dot. The fact that Iruka walked through the door with bandages on caused more than a few to raise an eyebrow, but no one mentioned it.

Clearing his throat Iruka began his speech.

"From now on you will be receiving missions to help the Village which means you will have to be put into teams of 3 as well as be assigned a Jounin Sensei." Iruka started.

"You will follow your sensei's instructions in order to successfully complete your missions."

Everyone was geared up for it. Hoping to be put into teams with their friends. Naruto was slightly torn in who he wanted to be with. He wanted to be on a team with Satsuki, _his_ crush, however he was also concerned with Hinata and wanted to there to help her too. He may end up with neither, which would suck.

After going through some of the list Iruka finally called out his name.

"Team seven: Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto-" Both people slumped their shoulders. There was no real animosity between them but Sakura disliked him for constantly 'getting in her way' and he disliked her because she got in his and screamed throughout the entire time.

"Uchiha Satsuki." Haruno Sakura was suddenly jumping for joy, an action which Naruto refrained from doing barely. He was happy he had one of his two important girls in his team however he was still concerned for the other one, who was looking very depressed right now.

He moved his hand to rest upon her shoulder in a comforting manner, which as expected made her blush, while giving her a warm reassuring smile, which made her blush deepen. They were both lucky she didn't faint, a testament to her growing confidence.

"Team 8: Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata and Inuzuka Kiba." Hinata perked slightly at that as she was afraid she would be paired with people she didn't know however, thanks to being introduced to Kiba, Hinata had someone she was partially comfortable with. Naruto was also please because he knew Kiba would support her and Shino was a good guy, if quiet.

"Team 9 is active therefore Team 10 is: Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji."

He said, finishing declaring the teams. He was quite thankful that no one had made a fuss this year as it would have been so troublesome to deal with. Caught in his relief he didn't notice Shikamaru sneeze suddenly.

"Alright this afternoon you'll be introduced to your Jounin-senseis so until then you are dismissed." Iruka said before he took a standing posture and waited for everyone to leave and end his duties as teacher.

Naruto was amongst the first to leave, shortly behind Satsuki, who he decided to ask out for dinner as a team.

"No." She said instantly in a cold tone. This had hurt Naruto as he had genuinely expected her to accept. But he was not going to take no for an answer. Not this time.

"Well if that's your stance then all I can say is... if you won't eat with me then you don't get to eat." He said while showing her lunch to her. Satsuki's eyes widened in surprise before they narrowed in anger.

"Give it back idiot!" Satsuki demanded as held out her hand.

"No." Said just as instantly as she had, though in a much lighter tone. Losing her temper she immediately lunged for it only to grab air as Naruto moved far out of reach.

"Now you have two options. Have lunch with your team or earn it back." Naruto got his answer a moment later as the Uchiha immediately lunged for him, though this time with the intent of bodily harm.

Naruto immediately moved out of range again before running away cackling away as Satsuki chased him. Sakura, wanting to get on her idol's good side, immediately went after him as well.

Needless to say after Naruto turned his third bend he suddenly disappeared as when Satsuki turned the same bend she couldn't see him. After playing hide and seek wit Naruto, though she wouldn't look at it that way, Satsuki encountered the considerably winded Sakura.

"Have you seen Naruto?" She asked angrily. Though, despite herself, she was actually enjoying this little 'game' of his, though she wished he hadn't stolen her lunch from him.

"No. I lost him the same time you did." Sakura said. That was actually a lie. She had lost Satsuki after the second bend.

"Bastard, stealing my Lunch. I'm going to kill him when I find him." Satsuki cursed. She was really looking forward to that sandwich.

"I know right? That useless Baka is only good for times like these." Sakura scoffed. "All he does is pull stupid pranks and fight against you." She continued.

"Well what can you expect from someone with such an abnormal childhood, not having parents and all." Satsuki flinched in shock at that.

"_He doesn't have parents?_" She asked herself. Now that she thought about it she did remember him being an orphan and that he was living on his own. While she was dealing with this recovered information Sakura had completely ignored her such change in facial feature.

"Lucky baka. He can do whatever he wants. If I acted like that my parents would ground me for a month." She continued, completely oblivious to the increasingly darkened and narrowed eyes. "He's so lucky, all alone, parents not around to tell him what to do and what not to do."

"That's why he always makes trouble." She concluded, proud of herself and sure that she had gained Satsuki-sama's attention. She had. Just not in a good way.

"All alone..." Satsuki muttered. Sakura tilted her head in confusion before giving a 'huh?' in response.

"The feeling of having your parents be angry at you is **nothing** compared to what Naruto is feeling."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Sakura asked tentatively, finally realising she had said something wrong.

"Shut-up. You are annoying." Satsuki growled as she glared at the pinkette, causing said girl to flinch as the words slammed into her.

Satsuki proceeded to walk off, never noticing her other teammate sitting in the nearby tree holding her Lunchbox. Having overlooked the whole thing.

Ten minutes later Satsuki found her lunch on a seat outside. Its contents exactly as she left it.

...

After lunch everyone went back into the classroom, though this time they were sitting with their respective teams. Naruto was, therefore, sitting next to Sakura and Satsuki as they awaited for their sensei to arrive.

Naruto was looking bored and zoned out while Sakura looked depressed from being called annoying earlier. Satsuki on the other hand was glaring at Naruto in anger. By the time he had given back her meal there had only been ten minutes before they were due back so, instead of enjoying her meal, she had to swallow it almost whole in order to avoid going hungry.

10 minutes later the senseis had arrived and were calling their teams out. Naruto noted that it was the feminist female Genjutsu mistress who was Hinata's sensei and felt relieved that Hinata would have a sympathetic sensei.

A few minutes later the classroom was empty save for three people. Satsuki who was brooding quietly, Sakura who was looking rather exasperated and Naruto who was nearing on livid. He had spent a bit of time with his would-be teacher, in the form of constant pranking. He also knew Kakashi was always late.

It was because of these things that Naruto was sure that his new sensei would not dare to be late, as he knew his reputation very well. It seemed that some reinforcement was necessary. Getting up Naruto placed a board eraser over the door. Something Sakura protested but did nothing to stop. Especially when his grin became feral.

In the end it was another three hours before Kakashi finally arrived, and what an arrival it was.

Kakashi had immediately noticed the eraser and was justly nervous. He knew it was WAY too obvious to be Naruto's work however neither of the other two fit the profile for a prankster. Which left one possible solution. It was a distraction.

This could end really badly for him. If he was small time like most then it would be fine however Naruto was hardcore and he knew that Kakashi knew it. Which meant that this was punishment and Naruto was always serious when it came to punishment.

Manning up Kakashi caught the eraser in his hand before it fell and proceeded to examine the room carefully, finding there to be no further traps Kakashi took a hesitant step forward before a glimmer of light caught the corner of him eye. Looking down Kakashi saw a seal exactly where his foot was. But what was worrying was that it was connected to something behind him.

Before he could do anything a sudden pressure slammed into his back, sending him flying into the classroom and into the opposite wall. For a moment Kakashi seemed to hang on the wall before gravity finally caused his body to slip to the ground where he lay in a heap for a moment.

Recovering quickly Kakashi slowly stood up to see the laughing coming from the blonde boy as the Pinkette displayed false concern and the broody Uchiha looked at him like he was stupid. Before Kakashi would say anything however something landed on, and completely covered, his head.

From the outside Sakura gasped and Satsuki's eyes widened at the sudden appearance of the bucket which now encased his head. But it wasn't actually the bucket which caught their attention. It was the three low level explosive seals which were stuck on it.

Kakashi had no time to react as the notes went off almost instantly causing the bucket to vibrate loudly around Akashi's head before he fell over, dizzy from the sensation. Sakura and Naruto were now laughing together and even Satsuki couldn't keep the small smile off her face.

After another ten minutes Kakashi was able to recover and remove the bucket from his head, looking very annoyed and fairly cowed.

"That was completely unnecessary Naruto." Kakashi complained angrily. Naruto smirked at him in a sadistic manner.

"Maybe you shouldn't been late for your first day as a sensei then." Naruto countered. "Especially with me as your student." Kakashi refused to concede the point after what he had just gone through, however he didn't have the heart, or balls, to deny it either.

With a sigh Kakashi turned to the other two, who had managed to get their mirth under control.

"Follow me to the roof." Kakashi commanded, causing the trio to follow him out.

...On the roof...

There on the roof Kakashi walked over to the railings to lean against, leaving the Genin to site on the ground before him.

"Let's start with you introducing yourself." Kakashi began.

"OK, what should we talk about?" Sakura asked. Kakashi shrugged before listing a few.

"Likes, dislikes, dreams for the future and things like that."

"Hey, how about you go first then?" Naruto prompted. "You look very suspicious, are you really our sensei?" Naruto questioned with wary eyes. Causing the other two to look at him with equally suspicious eyes. Kakashi sweat dropped at Naruto's attempt to undermine his legitimacy.

"Um, ok. My name is Hatake Kakashi... I have no desire to tell you my likes or dislikes. Dreams for the future, don't know. And I have hobbies." He said.

"_All we learnt was his name._"Was the collective thought of the newly formed Team 7.

"Okay going from right to left." He said pointing at Naruto.

"Yosh. My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like Ramen, people paying for my Ramen and the people who acknowledge me. What I dislike is people being mean to the people who acknowledge me and the time it takes to cook Ramen."

"_Hokage-sama was right. He is obsessed with Ramen._"

"My dream for the future... Is to surpass all the other Hokages and gain the acknowledgement of the Village." Naruto said resolutely. Akashi's eyes widened slightly before returning to their lackadaisical appearance.

"As for hobbies. Pranking, gardening and cooking." Everyone gave him a raised eyebrow when he mentioned that last hobby.

"Cooking?" Kakashi asked. "Oh, now that I think about it Anko-san mentioned that you made Dango for her." Kakashi said mildly. Naruto smiled slightly at the interest he was being shown before he reached into his pockets and activated the seal inside to pull out a box of Dango.

"Try one." Naruto prompted as he presented three in his hands. After a moment everyone was sampling the treat before beginning to chew with increased degrees of gusto.

Kakashi and Satsuki were still seating it fairly slowly however the amount of time they were not chewing was great reduced and Sakura was verging on wolfing it down.

"I don't usually like Dango but this is actually very good." Kakashi mentioned just before he bit into the last ball, resulting in the others present to nod enthusiastically. Naruto smiled at the warm reception his food had received before he tried to put things back on track.

"I think it is Satsuki's turn for introduction." Naruto mentioned, drawing attention to the young Uchiha who's mouth was still full.

Chewing quickly Satsuki proceeded to swallow the contents of her mouth.

"My name is Uchiha Satsuki. I dislike a number of things and don't particularly like anything. I can't really call it a dream but more of an ambition: To resurrect my clan and to kill a certain man." She said seriously. Going full emo at that moment.

Sakura gave an awed expression at Satsuki's announcement while Naruto grimaced in concern at the road that she intended to take. Kakashi gave a 'I'm not surprised' look before his eyes turned to Sakura.

"Alrighty, Girly's turn."

"My name is Haruno Sakura. The things I like are Satsuki-sama, reading and Ino-san!"(1) She declared unashamedly. "The things I dislike are: Naruto-Baka and people who belittle books. My dreams for the future are to become a strong Kunoichi and make my parents proud!"

"_So she can be more than just a Fan-girl._" The other three thought to themselves.

"My Hobbies... uh... I'll keep that to myself."

"_She talks her/me doesn't she?_" Everyone thought.

"Alright that's the introductions out of the way. Tomorrow we will be starting our duties as shinobi." Kakashi informed them.

"Yeah? What kind of duties?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"First we are going to do something as just the four of us."

"What is it?" Naruto said in a more subdued tone, forcing his excitement down as he got that feeling he had when Yamato used to throw in a curve ball in training.

"Survival training." Kakashi said seriously.

"Huh?" Naruto said in confusion. Satsuki remained silent but her eyes narrowed in thought. In the end Sakura was the one to ask all the questions.

"Why is our first duty training? We did enough training at the Academy." She questioned.

"This is not like Academy training. For this I am your opponent." Naruto's feeling of dread grew.

"I still don't understand what you mean." Naruto said, prodding for further information. That was when Kakashi started to giggle in amusement.

"What's so funny sensei?" Sakura asked cautiously as Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"Well, it's just that... you are going to freak out when I tell you..."

"Why?" Naruto asked for everyone.

"Because of this training, of the 27 graduates only 9 will become full Genin. The rest will go back to the academy. This training has a 66% chance of failing." The reactions were as expected with them all becoming incredibly concerned.

"Told ya you'd freak out." Kakashi said cheerfully.

"NO WAY! THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT OF GRADUATING?!" Naruto demanded in shock.

"_Onii-san and Jiji didn't mention this!_"

"That? That was only to find those who had the chance of becoming Genin." Naruto was silent as he processed this. It made sense in a way... BUT IT WAS SUCH A FUCKING TROLL!

"Anyway, tomorrow you have to show your real skills on the training ground. Bring all your tools and such... ah and skip breakfast. You might throw up." Kakashi advised.

"The details are on this paper-" He said as he began to hand out sheets of paper. "-and make sure not to be late tomorrow." He finished before dismissing them and Shunshining off.

...Morning the next day...

Naruto woke up to the sound of his alarm going off, at five in the morning. As was routine Naruto immediately made a clone to go and make his three thousand clones at their training ground. Once there they went and practised and advanced his Chakra control. He had considered not doing it today as he would be facing a Jounin however he opted not to set his training back just for this.(2)

Naruto set about his daily tasks of cooking his abundant breakfast of grilled fish, steamed rice, beans and miso soup, all properly seasoned of course.

He was actually half way through his cooking when he realised that Kakashi-sensei had instructed him not to have anything to eat. Naruto frowned and was about to put the food away but was stopped when his stomach began to make a violent protest.

Suddenly deciding that Kakashi's 'advice' was unneeded Naruto finished making his breakfast and proceeded to eat it with Gusto. Half way through the meal Naruto realised it WAS just advice and pretty weak advice at that.

Realising that the others may not realise this Naruto packed some of his energy bars into his pocket after finishing his mean and heading out at half six.

Half an hour later Naruto meandered his way to the training ground where both Satsuki and Sakura were already waiting. Giving and gaining some nods Naruto moved to sit with the trio as they waited for their sensei to arrive who would not _**dare**_ to be late again.

_**(1) Sakura is a fan girl. However she isn't fighting for love now. Which means she will be more than Canon Sakura was at this point. Not by very much but still. **_

_**(2) I feel I should mention that his Chakra control is NOT getting worse. However his progress is slowing down due to his ever increasing Chakra reserves. He may well attain excellent Chakra control like Tsunade however he will be in his twenties, post-puberty, when that is possible. If Hashirama, someone who could shatter the ground with just his Chakra, can do IryoJutsu then so can Naruto.**_

_**Ah another chapter done. Thanks to everyone who has read this far and I hope to hear from you about the story and what you think I did right/wrong when I wrote it. I take interest in your reviews as they help me know what I am doing and what I may not have explained properly.**_

_**Good day!**_


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